Everything's Back to Normal
by midwestgirl10
Summary: Takes place a couple months after the Season 3 finale. Written from Vic's perspective as she struggles with her feelings for Walt. I own nothing, shoutout to Craig Johnson for creating these amazing characters.
1. Chapter 1

_**This is my very first fanfic guys, so go easy on me! Let me know what you think! #LongLiveLongmire**_

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><p>It's been two months since Branch uncovered Barlow's involvement in Martha's murder. But it still feels like yesterday when Walt called me to meet him at the hospital where he told me everything. I was speechless, to say the least. We sat there in silence, well, Walt and I were silent, Branch was rather distraught. Barlow didn't make it through surgery, leaving Branch alone with his torment. I had to feel bad for him, I mean I know he put me through a lot this past year, but he ended up being right after all. Granted, the way he dealt with things could have been better. But now he's all alone, he just killed his own father in self-defense. Here I thought I had problems.<p>

It's been relatively quiet here since then. We're all trying to move on, and we're trying to do it without talking about it all. Branch isn't back at work yet, not really anyway. Walt told him he would be allowed back eventually. He obviously returned way too early after being shot last year, so Walt is making him see a therapist at the hospital a couple times a week. He comes in every other day and covers dispatch for a few hours, but only because Branch begged. He doesn't have anybody now, I think he's just lonely. Nobody mentions Barlow.

Walt is slowly getting back to his old self. With Henry acquitted of Miller Beck's murder, a huge weight was lifted. After finding out that Barlow was the money behind his wife's death, he was able to stop obsessing. I heard he finally went out to spread her ashes, I didn't hear it from him though. He doesn't talk about her anymore. But he smiles again, every once in a while at least, usually when Cady is around.

Sean left for Australia a week after the whole Barlow incident. The divorce was finalized a couple weeks after that. I'm still living at the house, but it feels weird being alone here. I'm trying to find a new place to buy, something a little bit smaller. I'm pinching pennies trying to pay for the mortgage on just my deputy's salary. I'm torn, though. This place is the only home I've known since moving to Wyoming, I don't want to leave it. I keep telling myself that I'll feel better if I move to a new place, you know, get a fresh start.

Everything is getting back to normal. I'm just a normal, recently divorced girl in Absaroka County, who's trying desperately to push away the ever growing feelings for her boss.

That's normal, right?


	2. Chapter 2

I get into the office early on Monday. Well, I thought I was early, but Ruby and Walt had already beat me there. Ruby isn't sitting at her desk, but her purse is there, along with a steaming cup of coffee. There is a post-it on my desk in Ruby's handwriting which stated that Walt wanted to see me. I set my stuff down, and grab a cup of coffee before heading towards his office.

I give two small knocks before opening the door. Walt and Ruby abruptly stop talking once they see me. "Hey, am I interrupting? I got your post-it," I say raising the yellow sticky note in the air.

"Oh, good morning, Vic. He's all yours, I was just going over Walt's notes for the day." Ruby stands up to leave, and turns back to Walt once the gets to the doorway where I'm standing. "Don't forget about your lunch with Cady, 12:30."

"I won't. Thanks Ruby." Walt turns his attentions towards me as Ruby leaves the room and closes the door behind her. "Good morning, Vic." He smiles.

"Hey."

Silence.

"Did you need something?" I say, waving the post-it once again.

"Yeah, uhh, have a seat." He shifts awkwardly in his chair as I sit down in the chair that Ruby recently vacated. "I wanted to ask you something."

Silence.

"Okayyy." I say, waiting for him to speak, but he just stares at me. "Shoot."

"How are you doing?"

I stare at him for a moment, assuming there has to be more to his question. He doesn't speak again, he just looks at me, which confuses me a little. "That's your question? You see me almost every day, Walt. You have to call me into your office to ask me how I'm doing?"

He looks uncomfortable, like I'm the one who's acting weird. "Well, I uh… I realized I never asked how you felt, uhh, about me letting Branch slowly ease back into taking shifts here."

I'm a bit surprised by his topic of conversation, I wasn't expecting him to ask me about Branch. "You're asking me how I feel about Branch?" He nods. "I'm fine."

He looks around the room briefly, before returning his gaze to me. "Well, I just know how much he, uhh put you through, and I want to make sure you're comfortable working with him before I agree to let him come back, uhh, permanently." He stares back at me, tilting his head a little to the side, waiting for my response.

"I'm fine, Walt. I'm not afraid of Branch."

"I never said you were afraid of him."

"Good, because I'm not."

Silence.

"Ok then. I'll sign the papers so that he can come back to work full-time. I'll be keeping a close eye on him, to make sure he stays in line."

I shift in my seat and clear my throat a little. "You don't have to do that, I can take care of myself."

He gives me a crooked smile. "Yeah, I think you've mentioned that before. Even so, it's my job to protect my deputies. Get used to it."

I try to smile. I am used to it, but that doesn't make it any easier, knowing that he does the same for any of his colleagues. He tries to protect everyone, I'm not special at all. "Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"Uhh, yep. That was it."

"Ok." I stand up to leave and head back to my desk. He motions for me to leave the door open when I leave. And I don't know why, but I the distinct feeling that his eyes are on me as I slowly make my way down the hallway back to my desk.

Sigh. It's going to be a great Monday.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thanks so much for the warm welcome, everyone! I appreciate the love!**_

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><p>I sit at my desk, still reading through these reports that are taking me hours to get through, because I can't seem to concentrate on what I'm reading. I get to the bottom of a page before I realize I don't remember a single word I've just read. My mind is everywhere besides work. My stomach growls. Maybe I should take a break, go clear my head. I stand up, and grab my jacket from the back of my chair. As I'm swinging it over my shoulders, Walt comes out of his office and heads towards me.<p>

"Where ya headed?'

"I'm starving, I figured I'd head over to the Busy Bee and get some food."

"I'm about to meet Cady for lunch, why don't you join us?"

I stop in my tracks, and look up at him. "Oh, no. I don't want to intrude on your lunch."

"What? You're not intruding on anything, Vic, it's just lunch. Cady was just asking me the other day how you were, come and you can tell her yourself."

I silently debate this in my head for a few moments before giving in, "Ok, uhh sure, why not."

He grabs his coat and hat from the coat rack, before reaching for the door. He holds it open, while looking back at me, waiting for me to go first. It could be my imagination, but I swear he's smiling slightly as I sneak past him.

When we get to the Red Pony, Cady is already there, talking to Henry at the bar. She smiles when she sees me strolling in beside Walt. I wonder if she'd be this happy to see me if she knew the things that went through my mind every time I look at her father. After all, I'm only a few years older than she is. It's ridiculous for me to be having these feelings. I'm not even sure I know what these feelings are.

"Hey, Vic! How are you?" Cady leans in for a light hug when Walt and I get up to the bar. "I haven't seen you in a few weeks. How are you holding up?"

"I'm good." It takes me a moment to figure out why she's so concerned how I'm doing. I haven't had any work related injuries since the abduction, but I quickly realize that she hasn't seen me since the divorce has been finalized. She smiles back at me, waiting for me to say more, but I don't know what else to offer up, so I try to change the subject. "I'm ok, really. How are things with you? Did you get your old job back at the law firm?"

She nods, "I did! It took a bit of convincing, though. After I disappeared for those few weeks a while back, they were hesitant to hire me back on. But after I told them about my success with Henry's case, they decided I was at least talented enough to give me another shot."

"That's good. Everything really is back to normal, huh?" I glance at Walt, and see his eyes were already on me, with a slight smile on his face. "I'm starving, Henry, the usual?"

Walt turns in Henry's direction, too. "Three usuals, Henry." Henry nods, as Walt takes off his coat and sits down at the closest table.

Cady and I join him, and soon they are deep in conversation about something or other. Well, it's mostly Cady talking, and they barely even notice when Henry brings out the food and places it in front of them. I'm not even sure what they're talking about, to be honest. I'm too busy staring at Walt. The way he smiles at Cady makes my heart melt a little more each time I'm around them. He's not a very emotional man, but I can't help but smile over the hold that Cady has over him. At some point, they change the topic of their convo and turn to me.

It's apparent that one of them has asked me a question, because they're both staring at me. I'm about to say something, but I notice that Walt has a bit of ketchup on his face, and before I can stop myself I reach across the table and wipe it off with my napkin. After realizing what I just did, I freeze. Did I really just do that? What the hell is wrong with me?

I look up at Walt, and am surprised to find that he doesn't seem surprised. He doesn't act like I just invaded his personal space, he simply just says, "Oh, thanks," and takes his own napkin to wipe the rest of his face.

I try to act normal, even though in my head I'm screaming at myself. I turn to Cady, "What were you saying?" I can tell she is trying her best to suppress a grin, but I try not to let her know I notice.

"Oh, I was just asking if you were coming to Henry's party here this weekend."

"I didn't know there was a party. What's it for?"

"Well, ever since the charges against Henry were dropped, he wants to celebrate once a month with everybody he cares about, just to make sure he doesn't take anything for granted. You have to come!"

"Ahhh, well…I'm sure I'm free this weekend. I don't have a husband to occupy my time anymore, so I'm free to party all I want!" I said this a little too enthusiastically. They both stared at me, each with an eyebrow raised.

Walt starts to gather his empty tray, "Well alright then." He gets up from his chair and says, "We better get back to the office. Are you ready, Vic?"

I grabbed the napkin from my lap and place it on the empty tray as I stood up. "Yep, good to go."

Walt leans over towards Cady and gives her a kiss on the cheek, "See ya later Punk, thanks for lunch."

"Of course. And thanks for joining us, Vic. I better see you here this weekend."

"You bet. And we'll see about this weekend," I give her a little smirk as I turn to face Walt. He's standing with an arm out in front of him, motioning for me to go ahead of him. I start to walk past him, when I feel him put his hand on the small of my back, leading me out the door.

I try not to obsess over this, because this is normal. He does this for everyone, right? It doesn't mean anything.

Right?


	4. Chapter 4

_**Thank you all for the kind reviews! I'm glad you're liking the beginning of the story so far! It's slow I know, but then again this dance that Walt and Vic have been doing the last 3 seasons really isn't a fast one... more to come!**_

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><p>It's Saturday night, and I'm on way out to the Red Pony. I wasn't actually planning on coming, but Cady stopped into the office this afternoon and asked again if I was coming tonight. I tried to act like I had plans, but she could tell I was lying and made me promise to come.<p>

So here I go.

When I pull up to the Red Pony, I see the Bronco is already there. The sight of it makes the butterflies in my stomach flutter a little bit. This is going to be a long night if I don't pull my shit together. You're around him every day, Vic. This is no different.

I need a drink.

Once I'm inside, I scan the crowd to see who's all here. Before I see Cady, I can hear her; she's doing her best Joan Jett impression during a karaoke session with Ferg. They are both absolutely murdering "I Love Rock n' Roll," and it makes me laugh out loud a little. I head straight to the bar and say hi to Henry.

"Hi, Vic. It is nice to see you, I am glad you decided to come."

"Thanks. I figure it's better than sitting home all alone." I give him a little laugh.

"Can I get you something to drink? A beer?"

"That would be great, thanks Henry."

He grabs a Rainier out of the cooler and pops the cap off before sliding it across the bar. He nods behind me to my right, "Walt is over there."

I look behind me and see Walt sitting at a table drinking by himself. He's smiling watching Cady and Ferg sing. I turn back to the bar to say something to Henry, and he's already down at the other end helping another customer. I turn and head over to where Walt is sitting.

"Can I join you?"

He looks up at me and smiles. God, I love that smile.

"You decided to come after all." He stands up as I start to sit down, and then he sits back down himself. No matter how much I'm around him, I'm always still surprised by his manners. I always wonder if it's his age that makes him such a gentlemen, I mean, he grew up in a completely different time than I did. His kindness towards women in general remind me how different we are. He is way out of my league.

"Yeah, well, that daughter of yours is quite convincing. She's going to be one hell of a lawyer." I pause for a few seconds. "Besides, I wasn't doing much at home anyway."

"Well I'm glad you didn't have anything better to do tonight." He says just a little sarcastically.

"I didn't mean it like that. It's just, I don't know…. don't feel like I have much to celebrate these days, that's all."

He looks over at me like he's about to say something. Instead he just nods, and takes another sip of his beer.

As the night goes on, I feel myself start to let loose a little. I'm not sure when it happened exactly, maybe after my third or fourth beer. The next thing I knew, I was out on the dance floor with Cady and Henry. Now, I'm not much of a dancer, this much I know, but after a handful of beers, I don't really give a shit. I was actually having fun, and not thinking about anything for a change. God, it was nice. I felt like I was actually celebrating something.

A slow song comes on the juke box, and everybody on the dance floor either grabs someone close to them, or heads back to the bar. Before my mind can stop myself, I'm across the room grabbing Walt by the hand and pulling him to the dance floor. He resists at first, saying that he's not much of a dancer. But I keep pulling his arm and he reluctantly gets up from his chair and follows me to the dance floor. He hesitates for a few seconds, before grabbing my right hand in his left, and putting the other on my waist. I stared up at him, for I don't even know how long. I tried to read the expression on his face but I couldn't. I give up, and turn my head to rest my cheek on his chest.

This is nice.


	5. Chapter 5

The next thing I know, I'm in a car. I open my eyes, and look around. I'm in the Bronco, and Walt is driving. He looks over at me as I start to stir in the passenger seat, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Where are we going? What happened?"

"You don't remember? You fell asleep while we were dancing. I told you I wasn't much of a dancer." He looks over at me sheepishly. "I woke you up when the song was over, but you were pretty out of it. So, I helped you walk out to the car and now I'm taking you home."

"Why did you let me drink so much?!"

He laughs. "Vic, I'm not your father."

I give him a grin, "No, you are definitely not."

"Plus you're pretty feisty when you drink, I didn't dare try to take your beer away from you."

This makes me chuckle a little.

"You looked like you were having fun, and I can't remember the last time I saw you do that. So I just let you be, and kept an eye on you."

"You kept an eye on me, huh?"

"Yep."

"Fun doesn't feel so hot right now, I think I'm gonna be sick." I roll forward and put my head between my knees. Walt leans over and puts his hand on my back, rubbing it gently. He pulls up to my house a couple minutes later, but before I can figure out how to open the door, he's already on my side of the car opening it for me. He holds his hand out to help me out of the car, but my balance is so terrible I end up grabbing his entire arm.

He pulls his other arm around me to steady me, "Whoa, you're ok, I gotcha." We walk up the driveway to my front door, and he stops and looks at me. I look up at these, beautiful, beautiful eyes staring down at me. We stand there for probably only 30 seconds, but it felt like an eternity. He finally breaks the silence and asks me for my keys.

"Keys? Uhh.." I check my pockets, nothing. A sudden realization hits me, "I think I gave them to Henry." I look back up at him sadly.

He starts looking around the front door. "Do you have a hide-a-key here anywhere?"

I shake my head no.

"Okay, uhhh…."

Silence.

"I guess you're staying the night at my cabin," he says matter of factly. He turns us around to start heading back to the car.

"What? No, just uhh, take me to the station, I'll sleep on one of the cots there."

"Vic, you're drunk, I'm not making you sleep on a cot." And that was that, he turned and pulled me back to the Bronco. We pulled up to his cabin a few minutes later, and once again he helps me out and up the stairs to the door.

I look up at him, "I hope you have your keys."

This makes him laugh. "Yeah yeah, let's get you to sleep."

This is definitely not how I saw this night going.


	6. Chapter 6

I woke up in a panic, frantically looking around the room to see where I am. I'm in a bed? This isn't my bed. Right, I'm at Walt's. But why am I in his bed? I look to my left, and there is a clock on the nightstand.

5:27 a.m.

I don't see Walt. I swing my legs over the side of the bed, noticing that I'm still fully clothed in my jeans and top that I wore to the Red Pony. I walk slowly, very slowly, because the hardwood floor creaks with each step I take. The bedroom door was left open, and when I get to the door frame I stay inside the bedroom but peer my head out into the living room. Walt is sound asleep on the couch. He is wearing the same clothes he was wearing at the party, except his denim shirt is only buttoned halfway, and he has a quilt covering his legs and part of his torso. He looks so peaceful. I slowly take another few steps to see if he is going to wake up to the noise. He doesn't. I make my way over to the couch, and stand over him. Now that I am this close to him, I can hear that he is snoring very lightly.

I smile to myself.

I notice for the first time that his hair is getting long in the front. At the angle that he's laying, the hair in front is dangling on his forehead, getting close to covering his eyes. I reach down and brush the hair off of his forehead with my fingers. He stirs a little under my touch, shifting his weight and turning his head towards the right. I freeze, but he doesn't open his eyes. I stand there for another thirty seconds or so, and he starts to snore again.

I shake my head. I never would have pegged Walt as a heavy sleeper. I decide to continue pushing my luck by going into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. The noise of the coffee maker doesn't even wake him up. I rummage through a couple of cupboards looking for a coffee mug, and quietly head out to the porch to watch the sunrise.

I sit there sipping on my coffee for awhile, just taking in the scenery. Man, Walt is so lucky to live out here. I wonder how often he sits out here in this very spot.

Some time later, I hear a loud sigh behind me. I spin around to see Walt standing in the doorway, he takes a sip from his coffee mug before opening the screen door.

"Good morning." He takes a few steps, stops, and takes another sip of his coffee, and turns towards me.

"Morning." I give him a small smile. "You didn't have to sleep on the couch, you know. I barely remember when we got here last night. Obviously, I could have slept anywhere. I didn't need to steal your bed."

"You don't even remember coming back here last night?" I swear he's smirking at me.

"Not really. The whole night is kinda fuzzy. I remember the first 4 or 5 beers…. and pulling you on the dance floor." I look up at him a little embarrassingly. "Sorry about that, I tend to impose on people's personal space when I drink."

He laughs. "I noticed."

"I hope I didn't do anything too weird, I don't remember much after the dancing. I vaguely remember the ride home." I clear my throat, "Here, I vaguely remember the ride here."

He comes over and sits down next to me, "You were fine, I promise. You acted pretty normal really."

"I have a hard time believing that."

"Well, except for the end of the night when you were so tired and couldn't walk to the car… and I had to carry you." He gives a short chuckle.

We both stay silent for a couple moments. I try to remember him carrying me. Sadly, I can't.

"I'm sorry for putting you out, Walt."

He shakes his head. "It made for an interesting night, actually. That's the first time I've ever had to carry one of my drunk deputies out of a bar."

I scoff, "and hopefully it's the last."

I'm silent for a few beats, thinking about how he said his 'deputy' instead of 'friend,' or any other term. We weren't even on duty last night, but he still sees me as his deputy.

Is it normal for deputies and sheriffs to have platonic sleepovers?


	7. Chapter 7

Not much has happened since Henry's party. I almost wish we had a big case to help occupy my thoughts. Not like a murder or anything, I'm not that terrible of a person. But I'd settle for a robbery or even a case of missing sheep! Anything to get me out of the office. I'm going a bit crazy.

That is until today. Today something interesting happened. Cady came into the office to drop off something for Walt. He was in a meeting in his office with the door shut, so she stopped by my desk to chat for a few minutes while she waited. Everything was fine, until she says, "Hey, whatever happened with that guy?"

"Guy? What guy?"

"The guy from the Red Pony. The really cute one, I think he was from out of town."

I stare at her blankly. "Um, I don't know what you're talking about. I was really drunk that night. The whole night is kind of a blur."

Her eyes widen, "Really? You guys were dancing together for a long time. Like four or five songs. I'm surprised you don't remember."

Huh. I wish I wouldn't have drank so much, this is really confusing. "No, I only remember dancing with your dad. The next thing I really remember is your dad taking me home."

She raises her eyebrows at me. "After you danced with my dad the first time, the-"

"The first time, we danced more than once?"

"Geez, what DO you remember? You danced with my dad for one song, and the next time I saw you, you were on the dance floor with this other guy. Looking prettyyyyyy cozy, too." She nudges my shoulder. "I saw my dad interrupt you two on the dance floor at some point, he must have asked if he could cut in. But after that song, I didn't see you again, I think maybe that's when he took you home. I'm not sure, he didn't say goodbye to me or Henry. The next thing I knew, you guys were gone."

"Huh."

"I've been meaning to ask him about it but I haven't seen him since the party."

Just then, the door to Walt's office opens, and the man comes out, tips his hat to us and makes his way to the door. Walt's still in his office. I stand, and turn towards the hall, "You know, I'm gonna ask him myself."

I stroll into his office and shut the door quietly behind me. I wait for him to look up.

"What's up, Vic?" he says absentmindedly before looking back down at the document in his hands.

"I was just wondering how come you didn't tell me about the handsome man I was dancing with at the Red Pony last weekend."

He looks up at me, a bit stunned. "I uhh, I don't know...I didn't think it was necessary, I guess."

"You told me I acted pretty normal that night. You think me cozying up to some stranger is normal for me?" I raise my voice a little, not really intending to.

"Well, I uhh, I don't know. You've been married most of the time I've known you, so I'm not sure I guess if you danced with strangers before you were, uhh, married."

"What happened with this guy?"

"Uhh, nothing really. You danced with him for a bit, and I took you home shortly after."

"Shortly after?" I cross my arms over my chest and stare back at him. "Cady said she saw you interrupt us on the dance floor, and the next thing she knew we were both gone. Is that when you took me home? You interrupted us on the dance floor so you could take me home?"

He stares back at me, he's clearly uncomfortable, as he fidgets in his chair. "Well, you were drunk, Vic. I didn't want that guy taking advantage of you. You're my deputy, I was just trying to protect you."

"If I'm your deputy, you have my back out there in the field," I say as I point out the window. "Off duty, in a bar?" I walk up to his desk and lean forward, lowering my voice a little. "Breaking up a slow dance with another man makes you look like a jealous boyfriend, Walt, not my boss."

He looks surprised for a moment, and then a sad look appears on his face. "I'm sorry, Vic." He doesn't know what else to say, and he doesn't try.

Now I feel kind of bad. I sigh, and turn and head for the door, slamming it behind me as I stroll back to my desk.

Then my body takes over. I only get halfway down the hallway before I turn around and head back into Walt's office, slamming the door again behind me. I walk around to where he's sitting, and squeeze in between him and his desk. He's surprised by my actions, but only moves his chair back a little bit, so we're still pretty close together. I stare down at him, as his kind, blue eyes gaze back up at me.

"I don't want you to be sorry, Walt. But if you're going to act like a jealous boyfriend, then I'm not gonna act like just your deputy."

I lean down and grab both sides of his face with my hands, and crush my lips to his. He freezes. I can tell he's shocked by my actions, because he doesn't necessarily return the kiss, but he doesn't push me away either. I break the kiss a few seconds later, and he looks up at me and doesn't say a word. I release my hands from his face, and run my fingers quickly through his hair before getting up and heading for the door. I leave it wide open when I leave and walk back to my desk where Cady is still standing, wondering what the hell is going on.

I can't believe I just did that.

Today is not a normal day at the office.


	8. Chapter 8

I know I should be freaking out about kissing Walt, but I'm surprisingly calm. I take that back, yesterday when it happened I was freaking out about it. Today, I'm calm. Really I'm more mad than anything. He can't have everything both ways. I'm not sure if he actually feels like a jealous boyfriend, or if he's even aware how his actions come across. At least now he knows where I stand. At least I hope he does. Maybe he thinks that I'm just trying to push his buttons and prove a point. God I hope not.

Now, 24 hours later, Walt is still ignoring me; he only talks to me when he has to. Maybe I should learn to be less confrontational, if he is really upset with me over this, it could get ugly.

It's just after lunch and Walt comes out and tells me he needs me to come with him to pick up a prisoner a couple hours away. Oh great, this ought to be fun.

We get in the Bronco and of course Walt says nothing. We drive in silence for the first hour, before I reach over and turn the radio on. We only get through one song before he reaches down and switches the back radio off. I look over at him, trying to read the look on his face, but his expression is neutral.

I try to start a conversation, but I don't really know what to say, so I just say, "Walt."

"What?" he says without looking my way.

"What's going on with you?"

"Nothing. I'm just thinking."

"Would you like to share?"

Hey says nothing and keeps his eyes on the road.

"You don't have anything to say about yesterday? Or the other night at the Red Pony?"

He sighs, "I already told you, Vic. I was just trying to look out for you. I didn't want you doing something when you were drunk that you'd regret the next morning. I'm sorry that I interfered."

"Don't you get it? ... I'm not mad that you interfered."

For the first time since we left the station he takes his eyes off the road and looks over at me. He couldn't have done this at a worse time. A few moments after he takes his eyes off the road, we approach a man standing in the middle waving his hands frantically in the air. Walt swerves at the last second, barely missing the man and his broken down vehicle on the side of the road. I, however, was not paying close enough attention. Between the jerk of the car combined with Walt slamming on the breaks, I smacked my head on the dashboard. I have a huge gash on my forehead, but I don't think I'll need stitches, there's just a lot of blood. I attempt to clean myself up with some rags I found in the glove box, while Walt changes the man's flat tire.

Once he's done and the man has drove off, Walt comes over to the passenger side where I'm sitting with my head in my hands. "How is your head?"

"It's pounding, but I'll live."

"Let me see it," he says as he puts his hand on my shoulder.

I look up at him reluctantly, and he grabs my chin and turns my head to the side as he leans down to put his face close to mine so he can inspect the wound. He turns and grabs a first aid box from the backseat and rummages through it until he finds the rubbing alcohol. He takes one of the rags from my lap and douses it with the alcohol. He puts one hand on the side of my face and applies the towel to my cut with the other. I wince a little as it stings at first, and he brings his head close and blows gently on the cut to ease the stinging sensation. He puts the rag down, and brings the hand back up to my face and brushes the hair out of my eyes. We stare at each other for a few moments before he breaks the silence and says, "I'm sorry about your head."

I shake my head slightly, "Don't be, I'll live."

He releases his hands from me and stands up straight. He stands there for another moment staring at me before walking around to the other side of the car to continue our drive.

We drive in silence for the first ten minutes before I break it, again. Why does it always have to be me breaking the silences? I can't take this anymore. "Walt…. Tell me I'm not crazy."

I look over at him, but he doesn't say a word. My God, this man is killing me.

I take a deep breath and try again. "You feel it too, don't you? Whatever's going on between us. It's not just me, right?" I stare back at him, my head pounding.

At some point, I shift my gaze out the window, bracing myself for his response.

He waits a minute before he says anything. "Vic...It's not just you."

I snap my head in his direction and find that his eyes are on me. Our eyes are locked only for a moment before he reaches a hand for the radio and flips it on. He then turns his attention back to the road.

I have so many more questions, but I decide not to push my luck. I gaze out the window while the pounding continues, my head, and now my heart.

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><p><em><strong>Okay! This is the last chapter that I've had written from the beginning. I've been waiting to post it because I couldn't decide where to go from here, but I finally figured it out, well at least I think. Haha, more to come soon I promise! This is just a little tease ;) Let me know what you think!<strong>_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Okay okay, here you go, friends! **_

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><p>The rest of the week has been rather, well, weird. Walt hasn't been ignoring me, but things are different, obviously. In the past week, I've kissed my boss, and made him finally admit that he quite possibly, kinda sorta, maybe might have romantic-ish feelings for one of his deputies who is only a tad older than his daughter. So I'm trying not to take his silence personally, because I can tell he's really trying to not act different around me. He's struggling to sort through everything on his own so I'm attempting to give him his space. It would be a lot easier if we didn't spend 10 hours a day in the same building.<p>

It's Friday, and I'm sitting at my desk on the phone with the DOT, trying to get some information about a suspect in a robbery at the old Cooper farm. We've been playing phone tag all day and now they've had me on hold for the past half hour. Walt walks out of his office and stops by my desk to find me holding the phone with my shoulder as I doodle idly on the pad of paper in front of me.

"Uhh, Vic?" I stop moving my pen but keep it pressed down to the paper and look up at him curiously. "I uhh, I need you to come with me out to Marcy Hopper's place. One of the neighbors called in a domestic dispute, and uhh, it might get ugly."

I point my pen towards the phone on my left ear, "I'm on the hold with the DOT about the Cooper case, where's Ferg?"

"He's out on another call about 30 minutes away. I don't think we can wait that long."

"Alright, I guess I'll finish with the DOT later." I hang up the phone and reach for my coat.

We get to the house in only about 5 minutes, and I can tell right away why Walt wanted backup. You can hear the couple screaming at each other as you drive down the street. Once you pull up to the house, you can see that the windows in the living room are broken, and random objects have been thrown out onto the lawn. I'm trying to listen to the conversation to figure out what the hell is going on, but it's hard because Marcy Hopper is absolutely hysterical. The best I can tell, is that Marcy's husband, John, has cheated on her with "some little tramp," and she is throwing him out, along with every single thing he owns. They're both screaming obscenities at each other as Walt and I make our way to the front porch. As we walk, we are stepping over piles of clothes and books, while also dodging random items being catapulted out the window.

"Sheriff's Department!" Walt declares loudly as we slowly approach the front door.

She doesn't seem surprised to have visitors. "Not now Sheriff, I'm busy teaching my worthless husband a lesson!" She screams as she throws a telephone at her husband's head, who is crouching in the corner, trying to shield himself behind a recliner.

John peaks his head out from behind the chair, "Woman, you're crazy! Sheriff, do something! She's destroying everything!"

I creep in behind Walt, with my hand at my belt ready to pull my gun if things get uglier.

Walt has his hands up in the air. "Marcy, I'm just here to help. The neighbors called and are concerned. I don't want anybody to get hurt."

"I'm already hurt, Sheriff. I just found out that this piece of shit has been sleeping with Candy from the strip club in Sheridan. Can you believe that? We've been married for 22 years and he's sleeping with a stripper." She picks up a speaker connected to the tv and yanks it unhooked and throws hit out the window.

"Baby, pleeeeeeease, I said I was sorry! What more do you want from me?!" John pleads.

Marcy responds by chucking a picture frame at his head. I'm having a hard time keeping a straight face, I'd probably be doing the same thing if I were in her shoes. Go Marcy!

Walt creeps forward to the middle of the living room, trying to put himself in between Marcy and John. "Marcy, just calm down. We can figure this out without anybody getting hurt."

As Walt talks to Marcy and tries to calm her down, I creep around the edge of the room so that I'm behind her. She's not listening to a word that Walt is saying, and she picks up a glass vase full of water and dead tulips and is poised to throw it. It looks like she's aiming at her husband, but considering Walt is in between the two, there's a good chance he'll take the blow. I decide not to take any chances of the vase hitting Walt smack dab in the forehead and lunge at Marcy's back, grabbing her arm before she releases it. She struggles with me, and we end up breaking the glass, but luckily not over top of my head. She flips around and starts swinging at me, and asking me who the hell I am. She didn't see anyone come in behind Walt, so I obviously surprised her.

Walt quickly lunges forward and helps pull her off of me. "Marcy calm down, that's my partner, CALM DOWN!"

While Walt continues to sweet talk Marcy, he shift her into the direction of the kitchen while he's talking. I motion for the husband to follow me outside so he's out of the line of fire. After several minutes, Marcy is finally a bit calmer and she agrees to quit throwing things. We convince John to stay the night at a hotel so they can both sleep on this and have a nice, quiet talk about their marriage tomorrow. We watch John leave in his own car, and wait outside for a half hour to make sure he doesn't come back. If we would have had two vehicles, one of us would have followed him to the hotel to make sure that's where he went, but we decided John was too chicken to come back before Marcy had time to completely cool off.

...

On the drive home, Walt is surprisingly the first to speak. "That was definitely one of the more interesting calls we've had in a while."

I laugh. "You mean you don't always have crazy housewives try to nail you with a vase full of tulips?"

He laughs, I think for the first time all week. "That is definitely a first," he says as he shakes his head.

"I don't really blame her for being upset, though. She took it a little overboard, obviously, but love makes you do crazy things sometimes." Out of the corner of my eye, I see him glance in my direction but I don't turn my eyes to him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that."

We're both silent for a couple minutes before I say, "Hey, you called me your partner back there." I look over at him. "Not your deputy."

He doesn't look over at me. "Yep."

Once we pull up to the station and head upstairs, I reach the door first, but Walt grabs my arm and pulls me into his office through the private door. Once he shuts the door he pushes me up against the wall. I let out a small gasp because everything happened so fast and I'm not sure what to do. With both of his hands on the wall on either side of me, he hunches down, inching closer. I can hear his breath quicken. I stare up at him, and when I think he's going to lean down and kiss me, he stops and rests his forehead on mine. At some point, I'm not quite sure when, I had put both of my hands out in front of me as if I was bracing myself for his touch. Since he moved closer, my hands are resting lightly at his lower stomach. I don't move.

We stand there like that for what feels like a couple of minutes.

"Vic, you still are my deputy," he says with his forehead still resting on mine.

I take a deep breath. "I know."

"This shouldn't happen."

"I keep telling myself that." I quickly reply.

"You should probably go."

"I should." I still don't move my body. Instead, I reach my head up slightly and place a light kiss at the side of his mouth. "Walt, please," I say barely a whisper.

He waits a few moments before leaning down to place a peck on my lips. He takes a deep breath, and then his lips are back on mine. This kiss is forceful, full of months of sexual tension. His hands are off the wall and at my waist, lifting me up a bit so he's not hunched over anymore, but still pushing me up against the wall. I lift my legs up and wrap them around his waist, and then my hands are everywhere. First they fly to his face, clutching it to mine and never wanting him to pull it away. With our mouths still inseparable, I let my hands roam to the back of his head running them through his hair. Walt slides his lips off of mine and brings a hand off the wall to cradle my face as he kisses my neck. I let out an uncontrollable moan and pull his head back to mine, searching for his lips again. Now I'm pulling at the collar of shirt, as our mouths continue to explore one another. Eventually he slows his kiss, and grabs my legs to unwrap them from his waist as he lowers me back to the floor. I'm clutching his shirt, not wanting this to end, but knowing it has to.

He pulls away first, but keeps his face close to mine. We stand there for a minute, letting our heart rates drop to something semi-normal as we stare into each other's eyes. I can't quite read his expression, but his eyes look almost sad.

He open's his mouth to speak, but he only says, "Vic, I..." before he trails off.

I give him a sad smile as I reach a hand up and rest it at the side of his face, he leans his head into my touch. "I know, I'll go," I leave my hand there for another moment before releasing it. I turn and squeeze out from in between him and the wall, take a couple small steps and exit through the private door, shutting the door gently behind me.

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><p><em><strong>Let me know what you think! I know it's still a bit of a tease but at least they finally got SOMEWHERE. I struggled with this one a bit, really trying to keep them in character. Please let me know if it worked! More to come soon!<strong>_


	10. Chapter 10

After exiting through Walt's private entrance, I took a minute to compose myself, fixing my hair so as not to raise any red flags when I walk in through the main door. Both Ruby and Ferg are at their desks, and they both look up and greet me as I enter.

It's Ferg that asks where Walt is. "He's in his office," I say as a raise my thumb in his direction. "He used the other door."

"Gotcha. What happened out at the Hopper place? Walt said it was a domestic disturbance?"

I sit down at my desk and try to act normal. "Uhh, yeah it turns out Marcy's husband has been cheating on her with a stripper."

Ferg grimaces.

"Yeah. So she was hysterical to put it mildly. She had thrown half of his things on the lawn before we even got there."

"But nobody got hurt, everything's ok?"

"For now everything's ok. They're taking some time to cool off and will talk once they've both had time to think." Ferg doesn't know I'm not just referring to Marcy and John Hopper.

"Good. I'm sorry I missed it. That sounds more exciting than the call I was on."

"Yeah, it was definitely something." If only he knew.

Ferg turns back to his desk and I turn my attention back to my reports from this morning. I spend the rest of the afternoon playing phone tag once again with the DOT. After finally getting the information that I needed, I decide to head out early today. I debate peeking my head into Walt's office to tell him myself, but I end up just having Ruby relay to Walt that I left for the day.

I go straight home and change out of my uniform. But I don't feel like just sitting here and wallowing, and I could really use a drink. I might as well go wallow with a beer in my hand. I get back in my truck and decide to head out to the Red Pony. There's not many people there, but then again it's not quite dinner time yet. Henry spots me as soon as I come through the door, looking briefly surprised to see me. He nods his head acknowledging me, but doesn't say anything until I reach the bar.

"Hello, Vic." Normally he would say, 'Hello Vic, Walt is not here.' But I'm assuming he skips this part since I'm not in uniform.

"Hey," I reply as I take off my coat and put it on the back of the chair before sitting down.

"What brings you out here?"

"Business." He stares back at me curiously. "I mean, I'm just here to give you business. Could I get a beer?"

I'm sure he can tell that something is a little off with me, but he doesn't ask. He reaches into the cooler and pulls out a bottle of beer and pops the top off before setting it in front of me. I nod my head in thanks, and pick it up and take a long swig before setting it back down.

"Long day?"

"You could say that." I take a couple more large swigs of my beer.

"You look like you are planning on having a liquid dinner. Can I at least make you something to eat?"

I smile at his kind gesture. "Sure, Henry. Surprise me."

I continue drinking my beer. I should have asked for another one before Henry headed to the kitchen, this one's almost gone already. I reach back into my coat pocket for my phone, and click it on to check the time. 5:12 pm. I set it beside me on the bar, but I'm not really expecting any calls. I turn my attention back to my beer and finish it after a few minutes. Henry still hasn't come back so I get up and go behind the bar to grab another beer myself. He actually comes back to the bar just after I sit back down in my chair.

"I see you are thirsty tonight."

I frown back at him, "Sorry, long day remember?"

He nods at me, "Is everything ok, Vic?"

"Honestly? I'm not sure."

Henry sets a cutting board on the bar and starts cutting up limes. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm not sure you're the best person to talk about it with." Realizing that's sounded rude, I quickly add, "No offense," and give him a lopsided smile.

"So, this is about Walt."

I don't say anything and take a sip of my beer.

"I have been best friends with Walt since we were young boys. Maybe I am exactly the person you should talk to."

I consider this for a moment. he might be right, but I still don't respond.

He continues cutting the limes. "Did something finally happen between you two?" He looks up at me with an eyebrow raised.

I take another sip of my beer. I want to ask him so many questions. Does Walt talk about me? Has he ever admitted to Henry that he might have feelings for me? Does he know that I kissed Walt a few days ago? Does he already know about today?

He must see the panic in my eyes. He quickly adds, "Do not worry, Vic. Walt has not said anything to me about what may or may not be going on between you two." He pauses for a few beats. "He does not need to, I have eyes of my own."

That doesn't really ease my panic. "What does that mean?"

"I have noticed that you and Walt have become more," he pauses trying to find the correct word, "comfortable around each other, especially lately."

"You mean ever since the divorce." This wasn't a question.

"Yes and no."

I frown at his evasiveness. "Do explain." I take the last swig of my beer and slide it across the bar to him. He sets down his paring knife, and grabs another beer from the cooler. This time he doesn't pop the top off, but instead grabs the bottle opener from his back pocket and sets it down in front of me.

"I would say that over the past year I have noticed you and Walt becoming more and more comfortable around each other. While you two are very different, you compliment each other well. Since your divorce, Walt is more at ease around you, and in general."

"You haven't seen him much this past week have you?"

"I have not. Why?"

"He might be a little less at ease." I start to play with the corner of the label on my beer.

Henry eyes me. "I see. What did you do?"

"What makes you think IIIIIII did something?"

He gives me a look that says, 'Are you kidding me?'

"Right. Look, I didn't set out to do anything. I didn't plan for any of this to happen."

He pauses for a few moments, like he is choosing his next words carefully. "In my experience, the best things to happen are those that we do not plan."

I snort, "That sounds like a fortune cookie."

He laughs a little as well. "It may, but I believe that it is true." He puts all the limes that he has just cut up in a bowl and sets it somewhere under the bar, and takes the cutting board and knife and puts it in the sink behind him.

"I do not know what exactly happened between you and Walt. I do know that he can be a very difficult man to communicate with."

"That would be an extreme understatement," I scoff.

Henry continues as if I hadn't interrupted him, "Walt does not make mistakes very often when it comes to his actions, and he rarely does something that he regrets. But he does have a few weaknesses, the main one being that he thinks too much, and he does not share those thoughts willingly. He may be slow to respond, but he always catches up...eventually." He gives me an encouraging smile before heading towards the kitchen.

I don't know if i can wait for "eventually."

I down the rest of my beer just in time for Henry to return with my food that he places in front of me. I smile weakly up at him, and slide my empty beer bottle across the bar. He grabs me another one and nods towards the tray, "You should eat something." He starts to walk away.

"Henry, " I wait until he turns back to me before I continue. "What is Walt's other major weakness? You said he has a few."

He smiles as if he was waiting for me to ask. "Blondes." He winks at me before turning to the kitchen.

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><p><em><strong>This one is a bit of a transition chapter, stick with me!<strong>_


	11. Chapter 11

I sat at the Red Pony for another couple of hours, switching to iced tea after my food came. Henry threatened to call Ferg to come get me if I didn't quit drinking and completely sober up before driving home. I obliged and drank about 8 full glasses of tea before Henry was satisfied that I could drive myself home.

However, home is not where I found myself driving towards.

Here I am, walking up to the cabin. I'm surprised he didn't hear me pull up, I can see a light on inside so I'm assuming that he's awake. I stand there on his porch for a full minute or so before I get up the courage to actually knock. I'm holding my breath, fearful that he's going to slam the door in my face. He answers the door, still wearing jeans and the denim shirt he was wearing earlier, except it's only buttoned halfway. He doesn't look surprised to see me.

"Hi," I blurt out nervously.

He nods at me, "Vic."... "Everything ok?"

"Yes. Well, I mean, kind of. I was hoping we could talk?"

He considers this for a moment. He doesn't really look like he wants to let me in, but he wouldn't be rude. He opens the door without saying anything and moves aside for me to walk through the doorway.

"Can I uhh, get you anything? A beer?" I see he's been drinking, too. There are a few empty cans sitting on the coffee table.

"No thanks, I'm ok. I've had enough to drink tonight."

He raises an eyebrow at me. "You drove here after you've been drinking?"

"Well not exactly, I was drinking at the Red Pony earlier during dinner." I make my way over to the couch and sit down at one end. "I had a few beers but Henry made me drink about a gallon of tea before he would let me drive home."

"But you didn't go home. You came here instead?"

I give him a slow nod, "I thought we should talk."

He bites at the corner of his mouth, and nods his head in agreement, almost as if it's against his will. He comes and sits down at the couch at the other end, so there's a good five feet between us.

"What did you want to talk about?"

I'm a bit taken back, "You're kidding, right?"

"I don't know where to start, Vic. This isn't a normal conversation."

I decide just to jump right in. "Walt, we kissed."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that."

I knew he was going to apologize, but even prepared for it, it still stings. "I don't want you to apologize."

"Well, I need to. I crossed the line."

"I crossed the line first. Twice."

"You did, but that still doesn't excuse my actions. It was unprofessional." He leans forward with his elbows resting on his knees, rubbing his hands together. He definitely looks uncomfortable.

"Walt, look at me." He continues rubbing his hands together. "Please," I say softly.

I stay silent until he finally looks over at me.

"Is that the only reason you regret kissing me? Is that it was unprofessional?"

He turns and pulls his feet up on the couch and spreads them out in front of him so he's completely facing me. He face looks more relaxed. "I said I was sorry, I never said I regretted it."

I was not expecting that response. "Okayyyy. So why are you sorry then?"

"Because it can't happen again."

This is the response I was expecting. This is what I came to debate. I pull my legs up on the couch and put stretch them out in front of me just like he did. My legs are close to the outside of the couch, just inches away from his.

I brace myself. "Why?"

"I'm your boss."

"There's no law against it in Wyoming. I checked."

"You checked?"

I cross my arms across my chest and nod.

"Even if there's no law against it, it's still unprofessional."

I eye him carefully. "Is that the only reason?"

He hesitates for a few moments and shifts his weight a little bit so he's leaning towards the back of the couch. "There's a bit of an age gap."

"And?"

"And what?"

"And, I don't care. I don't care how old you are. I don't even actually know how old you are."

"I'm old enough to be your father, Vic."

"But you're not."

"That's not the point. But how does my age not bother you?"

I shrug. "I didn't go seeking you out, Walt. It's not like I found your stats on the internet and said, 'oh here's the guy for me, a handsome widower in his 50s who likes to read and have monosyllabic conversations.' I don't think about your age. I didn't plan this, and I don't go around kissing people I'm not attracted to."

He considers this, but doesn't say anything in response.

"Why does my age bother you? Do I act immature?"

"No."

"Do you care what other people would think?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"You deserve someone your own age."

"Shouldn't that be my decision?"

Check.

He looks down at his hands and doesn't respond.

"You said earlier that you didn't regret kissing me."

"No."

"May I ask why?"

He looks slightly embarrassed, and looks down at his hands before answering. "I haven't been kissed like that in a long time."

I sigh. I have to shut my eyes for a few seconds, I need to get ahold of myself because it's taking everything in me not to crawl across the couch right now. We're both quiet for a couple of minutes, and eventually he brings his gaze back up to meet mine.

He breaks the silence. "I believe we're at a bit of a stalemate."

I nod. "For now."

I lift one of my legs and place it on the other side of his so that our legs are intertwined. It's a purely innocent move, and it makes me feel closer to him, partly because he doesn't recede. We don't say another word for the rest of the night, we don't need to. Even though we completely disagree on things, we're both on the same page in this moment. We lay together on the couch, at different ends, with our legs overlapping. We stare at each other until we fall asleep like that.

Even though we haven't figured anything out, I fall asleep happy tonight.

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><p><em><strong>I wrote this part pretty fast, I didn't have writer's block with this one so I hope it doesn't seem rushed and still feels realistic! Hope you're still enjoying the story!<strong>_


	12. Chapter 12

_**This chapter and the last have been so fun to write! Thanks so much for all of the feedback. I appreciate it! I think the reviews make me write faster ;) Here you go!**_

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><p>I wake up in the morning still on Walt's couch, but he's no longer at the other end and now I have a blanket pulled over top of me. I crank my head towards the kitchen and see him standing over the stove. The cabin smells like eggs, bacon, and coffee. I want to go up behind him and wrap my arms around him, but I don't think he knows I'm awake yet and that might give him a bit of a heart attack.<p>

"Good morning," I say quietly as I sit up.

He flips around to look at me, "Oh, uhh, sorry. Was I uhh, being too loud? Did I wake you?"

I let out a little laugh. "No, you're fine, Walt. This is your cabin you can be as noisy as you want." I stand up and walk towards him into the kitchen.

He turns back to the stove. "I have a little extra scrambled eggs if you, uhh, if you're hungry."

"I'm alright thanks. I should get going, I need to run home and shower. I will take some coffee though if I can take it in a mug with me."

"Ok, uhh sure."

He doesn't offer me a mug so I start looking through the cabinets myself. I find one in the third cabinet, and walk over to the coffee maker to fill it up. The coffee maker is next to the stove, so when I fill my cup I'm standing right next to him. He moves over a little bit to allow more room in between us. Once I fill my mug I bring it up to my face to smell it and feel the steam on my face. I lean back on the counter and look up at Walt as he's desperately trying not to notice how close we are. It's actually kind of funny to watch him squirm. It's not his normal avoidance, I can tell he's not doing it on purpose. I make him nervous now.

I smile up at him, "Are you ok, Walt?"

He doesn't look over at me. "Mmhmm."

I stare up at him for a couple moments as I take a sip of my coffee. Then I stand on my tip toes so that I can kiss him on the cheek. "Thanks for the coffee, I'll see you at the office."

He glances over at me as I make my way to the front door. "Okay, uhh, see you soon."

If he acts like that at the office, everyone's going to know something's up with him. This should be interesting. I run home and take a quick shower before heading to the station. Walt is in his office already I'm assuming by the time I get there. Both Ruby and Ferg are also at their desks and look up with I come in.

"Good morning, Ruby." I nod my head in Ferg's direction as I make my way to my desk. "How's it going, Ferg?"

"Good, you?"

"Same." I smile over at him and get up fill myself a cup of coffee. While I'm standing there Walt's door opens and he walks out while he's looking down at the piece of paper in his hands. He almost runs into me.

"Oh, uhh sorry Vic. I didn't see you there. I didn't uhh, hear you, uhh hear you come in."

I smirk back at him. He's going to need to calm down, he can barely speak. "I just got in. What's up?" I nod down referring to the piece of paper he's holding.

"He holds up a mug shot. This is Gregory Dawson. A car registered in his name is involved in a breaking and entering this morning. We need to go check out his last known address and see if we can find him."

I nod my head. "Alrighty, I'm up for a chase." I put my cup of coffee on my desk and turn to grab my coat from the back of my chair and turn to follow Walt out the door. He doesn't hold it open and wait for me like he usually does.

During the drive to the suspect's house, I try to make conversation about the case to make him a little more comfortable. He obviously needs to practice using his words as he suddenly has forgotten how to talk. He wasn't a great speaker before, mind you, but this is a little ridiculous.

I look over the information that Walt gathered about the suspect. "So this Gregory Dawson, it looks like he's been picked up before, several times. All petty crimes, but nothing recently. He had 7 run-ins with the law in three years and then the last two years, absolutely nothing. Don't you think that's kinda weird?"

"Yeah, uhh, a little I guess." He keeps his eyes on the road.

"Walt. Stop it."

"What?"

"You're acting weird."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are. Nothing has changed at work, Walt. We're still partners with work to do. Just act normal."

He sighs. "I'm trying to."

"Well you might want to try harder. Ferg and Ruby are going to know something's up if you keep saying 'uhh' every other word around me."

He stays silent for the next few minutes until we pull up to the suspect's residence. He takes the lead as we approach the house. Walt knocks on the door, and we don't hear anything. He knocks again, "Sheriff's Department." Still nothing. He tries the doorknob and it jiggles open. We enter, both hands on our guns ready to draw if necessary.

To say that the house reeks is an extreme understatement. The house is definitely abandoned, there's no way anyone could live here. It doesn't look like anybody ever moved out either, because the house is still full of furniture and garbage everywhere. We make our way through each room looking for any signs of Gregory Dawson. Nothing. No mail or personal items, no picture frames on the wall or anything. By the smell of this place, it's been abandoned for a couple months at least.

"Guess this is a dead end. We should probably head back and see if we can find any of his family."

"Yup." Walt heads for the door.

"Thanks for the profound addition to the conversation."

He doesn't respond and heads back to the Bronco. I follow him and stare over at him from the passenger seat.

"Walt, seriously. I know things are a bit different right now but you're acting so weird."

"I don't know how else to be, Vic." He snaps back at me. He regrets it as soon as he says it. "I'm sorry."

He turns the keys in the ignition and we start the drive back to the station.

"It's ok. I understand, kind of. We used to be so comfortable around each other, can we get back to that?"

"That was before."

"Before we kissed?"

"Yes."

"Look, I know we're trying to figure things out, and believe me, I'm not backing down on you but I don't want to pressure you either. But it was just a kiss, Walt. A really great kiss, but just a kiss. You're acting like you just saw me on a sex tape and you're about to die of embarrassment anytime I'm in the same room as you."

I can tell this makes him blush a bit. "Seriously, Walt. I'm sorry, what can I do to help?"

"I don't know if you can do anything."

I make him so nervous, it's kinda cute, but he needs to get over it before everyone notices. I don't necessarily care if people find out about what may or may not be going on between us, but I know he wouldn't like it. Not yet.

I take a deep breath, and undo my seatbelt and scoot over towards him so I'm sitting right up against him in the middle seat.

"What are you doing?" He looks over at me like I'm crazy.

"I'm trying to help you." I take his right hand in mine, intertwining our fingers together, and place our hands in my lap.

"Vic."

"Just shut up. We're just holding hands, Walt. That's it. It's not a big deal."

"This doesn't make any sense."

"I'm trying to make you more comfortable around me. You need to get over this new fear of touching me. It's fairly innocent, Walt. You'll get used to it."

I reach forward with my other hand and turn on the radio for the rest of the ride back to the station. I might be imagining it, but I think I feel his hand start to relax after a couple of minutes.

I slide back over to the passenger seat as we're pulling up to the station but I keep his hand in mine. Once he pulls to a stop I look over at him, and he slowly brings his gaze up to mine.

He grins a little. "You're going to be the death of me."

I'm glad he still has a sense of humor. "That's what I'm trying to avoid. If you're constantly this nervous around me you're going to give yourself an ulcer." I give his hand a light squeeze before I let it go. We head back up to the office, Walt holding all the doors for me like he used to.

Well there's one thing that's back to normal.


	13. Chapter 13

The following day, I beat both Walt and Ferg to the office. They arrive at the same time and Ruby and I greet them both.

"Good morning, Walt. Good morning, Ferg," chimes Ruby.

"Mornin' boys," I follow.

"Good morning!" Ferg is very cheery.

"Morning, Ruby. Hey, uhh, Vic. Uhh, good morning to you, too." Smooth, Walt. Smooth.

Ruby gets up and follows Walt to his office carrying a handful of post-its. She comes out a couple of minutes later and retreats back to her desk.

I get up and walk into Walt's office, shutting the door gently behind me. I keep my hand on the doorknob until he looks up at me. I lock the door and walk over to the couch and sit down with my legs folded underneath me. I pat on the spot next to me, "Come here."

He glares back at me. "Vic."

"Just get over here unless you want me to cause a scene."

He lets out a sigh of frustration, but he obliges. He sits down next to me and faces straight ahead, while I'm sitting sideways facing him.

I hold out my hands in front of me, indicating I want him to take my hands. I don't reach for his, but force him to take mine. He looks down at my hands for a few seconds before giving in. He turns and faces me a bit more as he grabs both of my hands in his. We stare at each other for a few moments.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sleeping? You look like shit."

He scowls. "Thanks."

"You're not sleeping very well are you?"

He shrugs his shoulders, "Not particularly."

"That was a lousy 'good morning' out there." I nod my head towards the door.

"I know." He frowns. "I can't help it. I told myself the entire way here to act normal when I first see you. But, …" he trails off.

"But what? What happens?"

"Then I see you," he looks up at me, "and I forget. Every time I see you now is like the first time and I forget what to do."

I tilt my head at him and smile, because this is quite possibly the sweetest thing anybody has ever said to me, and he has absolutely no idea.

I take one of my hands out of his and reach up and pull his face towards mine so I can lock my lips to his. It's just a single kiss, but it's a long one. Once we break apart, I open my eyes to look back at him, and he glares at me.

"I thought you weren't going to pressure me."

"I'm not, I'm not pressuring you for anything more than a kiss. You can't say something like that to me and expect me not to kiss you." I move my hand from his face and rest it on the back of his neck gently playing with his hair. "Plus, kissing is part of my plan to get you to loosen up."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"You need to calm down, Walt. You're thinking too much about all of this. Kissing relaxes you."

"I don't feel very relaxed."

"That's because I'm doing all the kissing. Your turn." I wave both of my hands towards me, gesturing him to come to me. "Kiss me."

"Vic, come on."

"Step out of your comfort zone, Walt. It's the only way to get past this awkward stage we're in. Well, that you're in," I smirk.

He glares back at me like I am about the craziest person he's ever met. I don't budge, my eyes locked on his.

He gives in after a few moments, and tentatively leans forward and places his lips lightly on mine. It's just a short peck, but when he takes his lips off of mine, he keeps his face right there next to mine. He hovers there for a good 10 seconds before kissing me again. This time he parts his lips, and I take full advantage. I slide my tongue in and glide it along with his. We go back and forth for a few moments before he slows down and brings the kiss to an end. When he pulls away, he doesn't completely lean back but just far enough so that he can see my face.

He lets out a soft sigh. But then he grins, "Good morning."

I laugh. "Much better." I lean forward and give him one more kiss before standing up and heading for the door. After unlocking the door, I call out over my shoulder, "Yell if you need me," as I walk back to my desk.

For the rest of the morning I sit at my desk going through reports, and try to find more information about Gregory Dawson since his last known address was a bust. Walt comes out around noon and stands by my desk.

"I'm headed out to the Busy Bee for lunch, do you guys want anything?"

Ferg looks up from his computer screen, "Sure, Sheriff. I'll have the usual."

"Alright, how about you, Ruby?"

"Nothing for me, Walter. Thanks."

"Can I come with you? I could use a break." I say gesturing to my reports.

He smiles down at me, "Sure."

I get up and head for the door as he goes back into his office for his coat and hat. I wait for him with the door open, and once he gets to the door he stops and gestures for me to go first.

Once we're in the car, I stay sitting in the passenger seat but again reach my hand over for him to grab it. He looks down at my hand and lets out a little chuckle as he takes it. "You're relentless."

I beam over at him. "Get used to it."

"Boy howdy."


	14. Chapter 14

_**Ok, friends... here you go! I had a bit of trouble figuring out how to make this chapter work and still flow with the story I wanted to tell, but I think I finally got it to work. I should say "we" finally got it to work, BIG SHOUTOUT to Auntieoaty for her help on this one. I had a little trouble with the dialogue so some of those words are hers. Hope you all like it!**_

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><p>I lay awake here in bed, thinking about the same thing that has kept me up every night for the past week or so.<p>

Walt Longmire.

Will he ever be content with us as a couple? Will he ever be able to step out of his comfort zone and be happy with someone many years younger than him? Why does the age difference bother him so much? Is it really the age gap that he's worried about, or is that just an excuse and there's another reason?

I'm going to drive myself insane if I don't stop with the 'what ifs.'

I haven't admitted it to Walt, but everything that has been going on recently is making me nervous, too. My nervousness is the opposite of his though, I'm only uneasy when he's not around. When I'm in his presence, everything feels fine, even if he is acting like a sixteen year old boy who's never been kissed. It's when he's away that I start to feel this internal panic. He goes home at night and I worry that he's going to spend the next ten hours convincing himself that this is all a big mistake.

I expected him to be fairly uncomfortable after we kissed in his office, well after the second time we kissed anyway. Avoidance after any sort of emotional act is a typical Walt reaction. It's not that I've been completely at ease with everything happening, I just think I'm better than he is at hiding it and going with the flow. It's definitely been strange switching between boss and deputy to man and woman who have just admitted that they're attracted to one another but there's a large age gap and the man is trying so desperately not make a move that he's acting slightly weird in the process.

It sounds confusing, I know, that's because it is.

I swear I will never tell Walt this, but the last few nights I have been sleeping in the same t-shirt that I wore the night of Henry's party at the Red Pony. I'm not sure if it's from dancing with Walt or from sleeping in his bed, but the next day when I took it off I noticed that it smelled like him. I know this makes me sound like a silly, obsessed teenager but I can't help it. It helps calm me down when he's not here.

The whole plan of holding Walt's hand and kissing him randomly at work is just as much for my benefit as it is for his. I really do think it will help him expand his comfort zone and get back to acting natural around me again, but I'm also doing it for selfish reasons. Ever since he pushed me up against the wall in his office, I can't get that kiss out of my mind. It was the first time Walt ever let me know how he felt, if only for a couple of minutes. In the end, his mind took over and convinced him that it was a bad idea and he pulled away. But damn, that was an amazing kiss. I know I told Walt that the kisses we've shared are just kisses and that he needs to relax, but the truth is I need those kisses, too. Those kisses remind me that there is something between us and it's not just in my head; he feels it too.

I look over at the clock on my nightstand to see that it's 10:42 p.m. I wonder if Walt is still awake.

Before I talk myself out of it, I grab my cell phone and dial the number to his cabin. He answers on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"What's wrong?"

"What? Why does something have to be wrong?"

"It's late, natural reaction."

I don't respond. I suddenly realize that I'm not quite sure why I called.

"Vic, what's going on?" he asks nervously.

Think, Vic. Think! "Nothing, I can't sleep."

He lets out a light sigh, "Me either."

We're both silent, and I roll over to my other side, trying to get comfortable. I didn't think this conversation through before I made this decision, I probably sound like an idiot calling him and then not speaking.

"I don't know why I called. I just wanted to hear your voice, I guess."

"I'm glad you did."

"Yeah?" I relax a little in knowing this.

"Yeah."

We both fall silent again. It's a comfortable silence, but I didn't call him just to listen to him breathe on the other end.

"Actually Walt, um…" I pause briefly, not knowing how to put into words what I need to say. "Well, I called because… I wanted you to know that I get nervous, too. When I'm away from you, I worry that things will be completely different the next time I see you."

I hesitate for a moment, and when he doesn't interrupt I continue, "I get scared that this will all be over before it even really begins. It's probably crazy to worry about it, but I do. So I uh, I just wanted to let you know that it's not just you who's nervous about all of this. I'm not always as tough as I act."

"You don't need to be, you know."

"What, nervous or tough?"

"Both."

I don't say anything right away, but this makes me smile. "Thanks."

After a few moments Walt asked, "Feel better?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good, maybe we can _both_ sleep now."

"I hope so. You need it, you looked like shit today."

He laughs. "Thanks for the honesty."

"Anytime," I beam. "Goodnight, Walt. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"You will. Goodnight."

I hang up the phone, and clutch it to my chest.

I pull my shirt up a little so I can breathe in Walt's lingering scent. I think the aroma is starting to fade, but it's still enough to lull me to sleep tonight.

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><p><em><strong>It might be a few days before I post the next chapter, I need to brainstorm and figure out exactly what I want to happen next before I continue... be patient! and as always, thanks for reading! Auntieoaty, thanks again for your opinion, and words! :)<strong>_


	15. Chapter 15

The following day at the office was rather eventful. Well nobody was actually at the office that much, so I only saw Walt a few different times. There were a number of issues around town that kept me, Ferg and Walt on the move all day. It was probably a good thing, I felt a little silly after admitting to Walt last night that I get nervous just like he does. The little conversation I did have with him today was about work, and there wasn't much time for awkwardness. Walt was out of the office when I clocked out, so I never even saw him to say bye for the day.

Now it's pitch dark out, and I find myself on Walt's porch. There's still a light on inside, so I'm assuming I won't be waking him up. After I knock, he answers within seconds as if he expects it to be an emergency. I guess it is after 11 o'clock on a week day, he probably doesn't receive many visitors at this time of night.

"Vic?" He glances around behind me like he's looking for more people with me.

"Hey, can I come in?"

"Uhh, sure." He opens the screen door and moves to the side a little to let me by. "What's up?"

I walk in and take a few steps before turning around to face him. "I can't sleep."

He gives me a lopsided frown and tilts his head to the side, "I'm seeing a pattern starting to develop here."

I start to pace around his living room, not sure if I should sit down or not. There's so many things I want to say to him, but it never seems to be the right time. Has he been thinking more about us? Is the age issue the main reason he doesn't think we should take this any further? Or does he have a bigger problem with the fact that he's my boss? Has he told Henry about any of this? Cady? Is he going to make up his mind soon?

So.

Many.

Questions.

"I guess it's probably my fault you can't sleep."

I snort, "Pretty much. I see you're not sleeping either."

I look over at him as he starts to run his hands through his hair, a sign that he's nervous. He stops and puts his hands on his hips, "So, what do we do?"

"Well, we're both awake, I can think of a couple things to pass the time," I smirk over at him.

I expect him to shoot me a look and say something like, 'you know that's not what I meant.' But he doesn't say anything and just stares back at me.

I walk over to where he's standing and stop directly in front of him. He still doesn't speak and continues to stand there with his hands on his hips. He does shift his weight slightly, but he doesn't move away from me. I decide to push my luck and grab his shirt, running my hands over his chest. "That wasn't a no," I look up at him, tilting my head out of curiosity.

"I didn't say yes, either." I can't read his expression. What the hell is going on in his head?

"Ok. You don't have to say anything." I stand on my tip-toes so I can place a kiss up by his ear, and then another on the other side. He doesn't stop me yet so I continue, moving on to his neck. As soon as he feels my tongue graze his skin, he moves his hands to my waist gently trying to push me back. I put my hands on down on top of his, keeping his hands there while I continue on his neck.

"Vic."

"I told you not to say anything."

He moves his hands up my waist a little so they're at my stomach, and he tries to push me back a little. I follow his hands and grab both of them with mine. "I know, but–"

I stop him from saying anything else, crushing my lips to his. I try to deepen the kiss, but he isn't giving me anything in return; it's like kissing a statue. I pull back and stare up at him, my feelings a little bruised. Every time I've kissed him so far he's always kissed me back, even if he was apprehensive at first. I hope my face doesn't show the hurt that I'm feeling, but I'm sure I probably look like a rescue puppy begging for someone to take her home.

I suddenly realize that it probably looks like I'm trying to seduce him, which makes me feel guilty. That's not my intention at all. I think I keep expecting his heart to finally trump his head, but it doesn't seem to be happening. I sigh, leaning forward and resting my forehead on his chest, at the same time bringing my hands up to his waist. "I'm sorry. I need to stop kissing you."

"It's ok." He moves his hands from my waist up to my shoulders, rubbing them gently.

"I'm not trying to pressure you… but sometimes I can't help it."

He's silent for a moment. "It's not your fault, I'm pretty irresistible."

I laugh into his chest, grateful that he's trying to lighten the mood.

I pull my head up to look at him. "If I promise to back off a little bit and give you time and space to think, will you do me a favor? No questions asked?"

"That sounds dangerous."

"It's not. Promise."

He weighs my request for a minute. "What do you want?" He stares down at me, his head cocked slightly to the side.

My hands still at his waist, I grab at his shirt and tug it gently, untucking it from his pants. I move my hands around to the back and do the same. He must trust me when I said it wasn't dangerous, because he doesn't stop me nor does he ask any questions. I bring my hands up to his chest and begin undoing the buttons one by one. Once I reach the bottom, I run my hands on his stomach all the way up and slide the denim shirt off of his shoulders. He brings his arms up a little, allowing me to pull it the rest of the way off. He looks back at me, a little confused, but he doesn't say anything.

I bring the shirt up and clutch it to my chest while gazing back at his bare chest. "If I'm going to keep my promise, I better go."

He leans down and places a kiss on my forehead. "Goodnight, Vic."

"Goodnight." I turn and head for the door. Once I reach the screen door, I glance back at him watching me leave, "Don't make me wait too long."

I want him to say, 'I won't,' but instead he gives me a slight smile and a nod.

I walk back to my truck, still clutching his denim shirt to my chest. I hope his scent lasts for awhile; I have no idea how long it will take Walt to come around.


	16. Chapter 16

A few days have passed since I made that deal with Walt, and so far so good. I've kept my promise and have backed off, feeling a little embarrassed that I keep throwing myself at him when he's obviously not ready. I reminded myself of Lizzie the other night and that scares the hell out of me, so I've been keeping a little extra distance between us. The next move has to be his because I'm not sure I'm ready for that kind of rejection again.

I don't feel like sitting at home tonight, so I head out to the Red Pony to get some food. Honestly, I'm really going for more free advise from Henry, and of course beer. Those plans get thrown out the window as soon as I stroll inside, as I see Walt and Cady sitting at the bar having dinner and talking to Henry. I would have turned right back around if they wouldn't have heard me come in. I stop abruptly in the doorway, and all three of them snap their heads in my direction and stare at me as I just stand there.

Shit. If I turn around now they'll think I'm crazy. "Hey." I move from the doorway and head towards them to the bar.

Walt doesn't say anything, but he nods his head like someone just asked him a question, but he's not looking at anyone in particular. What's wrong with him?

Cady slides off her chair and walks towards me, holding her arms out in front of her. "Vic, it's nice to see you!" This is a very weird gesture since Cady and I aren't really close, but I try not to show any discomfort.

"Hey, how are you?" I say as she reaches me and pulls me into a hug.

"We need to talk," she whispers quietly in my ear before pulling away. I swallow hard, that can't be good. She keeps an arm around my back and walks me the rest of the way to the bar. "I'm good, we were just talking about you."

"Yeah? What about me?"

I glance at Walt, but it's Henry that answers me. "I was just mentioning that I hadn't seen you since last week when you came in for a liquid dinner." He smirks.

"Yeah, and I haven't seen you since that day in the office, the day after Henry's party." She looks at me expectantly.

Before I can respond, Walt speaks up. "That was an interesting day." He doesn't look in my direction, but stares straight ahead at Henry and takes a drink from his beer.

Both Henry and Cady look from me to Walt, but neither of us speaks. "What happened?" Henry finally asks.

"She yelled at me."

I scoff. If we're really going to get into this, I'm going to need a drink. "Can I get a beer please?" I take off my coat and put it on the back of one of the chairs before sitting down.

Henry glances at me, looking slightly confused, but he obliges and slides a beer across the bar top before turning his attention back to Walt. "Why did she yell at you?

"Because she,-" he gets out before I cut him off.

"Walt." I can't believe he's doing this right now. "Are you drunk? Why are you bringing this up?"

He looks over in my direction, but not at me, and just shrugs. He must be a little drunk.

I take a large swig of my beer.

Henry tries one more time, "Why did she yell at you?"

"Because I was a gentleman and stopped a man from taking advantage of her when she was drunk at your party."

Henry raises his eyebrows, looking to me for a response.

"You don't know that he was taking advantage of me… we were just dancing, it was harmless." I don't think I would ever go home with a stranger, even if I was drunk and especially if I had feelings for someone else. He's doing this to get a rise out of me and I don't know why. Why is there hostility in his voice? Is he mad that I threw myself at him the other night, or where exactly is this coming from?

"Maybe I shouldn't have stepped in then," he stares straight at me for the first time tonight, and I can see that his eyes are a little glazed over.

He's regretting everything; I didn't see this coming. I put my guard back up, "Maybe you shouldn't have." I grab my beer and hop off my chair, "Excuse me."

I make a bee line for the bathroom. I set my beer on the sink and rest my hands on the edge, staring back at my reflection in the mirror. Tears are starting to well up in my eyes but I fight them back.

The door opens behind me and I see Cady in the mirror as she slips inside and leans against the wall. She doesn't say anything for a minute, she just stands there and takes a few sips of her beer.

I decide to break the silence. "How long as he been here drinking?"

"I'm not sure, awhile I think. He was already drinking when I got here."

I don't say anything, I just not my head.

She continues, "I didn't really think he was drunk until I heard his tone change when Henry mentioned your name before you got here. He started to act a little weird so I figured something happened. I've never seen him talk to a woman like that before."

I don't say much, deciding to let her guide the conversation. "Me either."

"Did you really yell at him that day?"

I look at her through the reflection in the mirror, nodding my head.

"And then what happened?"

I take a deep breath and put my head down so I can't see her in the mirror. "I kissed him."

She must have taken a sip of her beer while she was waiting for me to respond, because as soon as I speak she spits it out everywhere.

"I figured that would be your response."

She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, and looks back at me apologetically like she's just hurt my feelings. "Sorry… that's not what I was expecting you to say."

I nod my head to let her know that I understand her reaction. "I told him that he was acting like a jealous boyfriend, and if that's how he was going to be then I wasn't going to act like just his deputy."

"And he got mad that you kissed him?"

I straighten up and turn around to face her, crossing my arms as I lean back against the sink. "Not exactly. He got a little weird."

"Not surprising." She knows her father well. "Then what?"

"Then _he_ kissed _me_ a few days later." I pause. "Are you sure you want to talk about this with me?"

She shrugs, "Unless you don't want to tell me." Her eyes soften, this isn't the reaction I was expecting from her. I didn't figure she'd hate me when she found out, but I didn't figure she'd be this nice.

"He has a problem with the age difference, and that we work together."

"And you don't?" She's genuinely curious.

"Not really. We work well together, I don't think we'd have a problem keeping things professional… if things go any further."

"Professional is usually his middle name. What does he say about your age?"

I hold my breath for a moment before blurting it out. "That he's old enough to be my father."

She pauses, only briefly. "True, but he's not your father."

I look back at her, and I can't help but curl my lips up into a little smile. "That's exactly what I said."

She returns the smile, letting me know she'd be ok with us as a couple, even if we are almost the same age. "So when did he get angry?"

"Tonight, apparently." I'm reminded of how he acted a few minutes ago, and the tears start to well up again. "I've been giving him a little space so he can sort his issues out… but now it sounds like he regrets everything." A tear starts to form at the corner of my eye and I reach up and brush it away before it falls.

"You wanna get outta here? Order a pizza or something?"

I nod my head yes. I admit it is a little weird talking about this with her, but it sure as hell beats going back out there and talking to Walt while he's in this mood, nothing productive will come out of it.

As we exit the bathroom, Cady turns to me, "You can head outside, I'll grab your coat."

"It's ok. I'll get it," though I appreciate that she was trying not to make me face him right now. We walk back over to where Henry and Walt are, and I grab my coat from the chair. As I swing it over my shoulders, I glance over at Walt who's watching me intently. I look over to Henry, and give him a slight nod before turning to head to the door.

Before Cady follows me she leans down to Walt, "I think you're going to regret this tomorrow, how you treated her. I'd start thinking of an apology now." She says this in a whisper but it's loud enough for me to hear, I think on purpose. She kisses him on the cheek and then follows me outside.

"I'll drive," I say as I motion for her to get in my trunk.

I'm grateful for Cady's company now, but I really wish I would have just decided to stay home tonight.

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><p><em><strong>Before you all say it, I know this chapter went in a different direction. But let me know what you think! Good and bad please! Do you think it's realistic orrrrr do you hate me for making Walt a little mean? Haha. More to come soon!<strong>_


	17. Chapter 17

Cady gets in my truck and I head to my house, neither of us really speaking on the way. Once we're inside, I tell her to order a pizza while I go change into some sweats.

When I come back into the living room a few minutes later, Cady has already made herself comfy on the couch. "Pizza will be here in 30."

"Great." I say as I head to the kitchen and grab two beers from the fridge, handing one to Cady as I join her on the couch.

"Ooooh, thanks," she says as she grabs the beer from my hand.

I switch on the tv, and flip through the channels looking for anything to add some background noise. We sit in silence for a couple minutes as we sip on our beers.

"Vic, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How long have you known that you've had feelings for my dad?"

"I've asked myself that same question so many times, but to be honest, I don't even really know when I figured it out. I didn't just have an epiphany one day, you know?" I look over at her and she nods.

"For the longest time I just felt this growing connection with him, I couldn't explain it even to myself. Despite being very different, we worked really well together. After a couple of years, I came to trust him more than anyone else in my life. He was a piece of stability, I guess."

I realize that doesn't really answer her question. "I don't think it was until my marriage started to fall apart that I saw Walt..." I pause, "your dad, in a way that I hadn't looked at him before." I look over at her hesitantly, wondering if I should have worded that differently.

"Did you think it was just you that felt like that? Did you ever think that he felt the same way you did?"

"I didn't think it was possible, I thought it was just me for the longest time. Branch used to tease me about our "special relationship," I use my hands to make air quotes. "And that kind of made me wonder how other people viewed us while we were working, like if they saw something in how he acted around me that I hadn't noticed yet."

I continue, "Then Sean started to act weird about work things that involved Walt, and started asking if something was going on. I denied it of course, because technically nothing was going on. I was still lying to myself at that point, so Sean realized what my feelings were before I did."

Her eyes narrow, "You didn't get divorced because of my dad, did you?"

I shake my head. "No. There were a lot of problems in our marriage, there had been for a long time. It was complicated," I frown. "If you asked Sean that same question though, his answer would probably be different," I say honestly.

She nods her head in semi-understanding, not wanting to press the question.

I decide to try and shift the conversation. "Can I ask _you_ a question?"

"Of course."

"How is this not weird for you, talking about your dad with me? I mean, I know you were caught off guard when I admitted to kissing him, but you've barely batted an eye about everything else."

She shrugs. "I've thought for awhile now that there was something going on between you two. I just thought he wasn't ready to tell me yet."

"Jesus. Did everybody know we had feelings for each other before we did?" I scoff, not really wanting an answer.

She laughs. "Over time I could see how comfortable you two became around each other. That might not be a red flag for you, but for my dad to be that relaxed around another woman, it definitely caught my eye. I started noticing that he would put his hand on your back when you were walking together, and you seemed to move as one person kind of, not always paying attention to the people around you."

Now I understand why this isn't weird for her, it's not _new_ to her. "It started to come natural for the most part, I wouldn't even notice that we were acting any different until someone would look at me funny. Except that day during lunch at the Red Pony, when I wiped ketchup off of his face? I couldn't believe I did that, I about gave myself a mild stroke with that one."

She laughs, nodding her head as she thinks back to that day. "I remember! Henry and I got a good laugh out of that after you guys left."

I bet they did. "Well, I'm glad I could be of entertainment for you two."

We both fall silent for a minute or so. "You know, I'm sure Henry is talking some sense into my dad right now."

I nod my head silently before taking a swig of my beer.

"You don't seem so certain."

"I don't think anybody can talk him into something he doesn't want."

"You don't think he'll want to apologize for how he acted tonight?"

"Oh no, I'm sure he'll apologize. Walt is very diplomatic."

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know. He shouldn't really have to, he has a right to feel however he feels. He doesn't have to apologize just because his reaction to all of this is different than mine."

"Maybe not. But my dad needs a lot of practice in how he deals with his emotions. He has a habit of shutting people out."

"Yeah," I admit. She does have a point there.

"He was in a funk for an entire year after my mom died."

I nod my head solemnly. "Will you tell me about her? Your mom?"

"Really? You'd wanna hear about her?"

I nod.

Her eyes light up as she starts telling stories the three of them when she was growing up. She remembers spending a lot of time outside, having picnics and playing in the grass. They would go on horseback rides, and she always sat in front of her mom on the saddle. And on nights when Walt and Martha wanted to have a romantic dinner, or as romantic as they could get in Durant, they would head to the Red Pony. They would have dinner in a booth in the corner, and Cady would sit up with Henry at the bar. She said Henry taught her to count using coins and bills from the cash register, and she learned her colors by various labels from beer cans and bottles.

She goes on for awhile, the conversation eventually broken up by the doorbell ringing to deliver our pizza. As we eat, the conversation turns to normal, lighter topics. I ask her what's going on at her job, and we also talk about Branch a little bit. She has dinner with him once a week, but said that she's made it clear to him that they're just going to be friends. She thinks he's doing better each day, and will be ready to be back at work fully time soon.

It's nice to have the conversation changed from Walt, but it's damn near impossible not to think about him. They are different in so many ways, but when I look at Cady I only see him.


	18. Chapter 18

After dinner, Cady eventually falls asleep at the other end of the couch while I lay here wide awake, watching some ridiculous Lifetime movie. It's more like I'm staring at the tv and just not absorbing anything that's happening, as a million other thoughts are running through my mind. I keep replaying the entire conversation with drunken Walt. I know Cady was a little upset by how he acted, but if I'm being honest I can't really say that I blame him. I was a little put off about the way he was speaking to me, only because I've never seen him act like that before. I don't think I really have a right to be mad at him for all of this though, I pushed him too far, too fast. He's not ready for this, and deep down I think I knew that. I thought I was just being playful when I kept kissing him, and that it would make him come around faster. I should have known that Walt doesn't take any relationship lightly, and that nothing would happen before he had time to think everything through. I guess I felt like I was giving him time, but I somehow forgot that I'm not near as patient as he is.

It's pitch dark outside when I hear a light tap on my front door. I'm almost positive that it's Walt out there knocking, so I take my time answering it.

He's looking down at his feet when I open the door, and he doesn't look up right away. I stay silent, letting him take his time. When he finally looks up and makes eye contact with me, I see a different man than the one I saw several hours ago. His eyes are no longer glazed over, but they look sad.

He stares at me for a few moments before he speaks. "Can I come inside?"

I glance back to the living room at Cady sound asleep on the couch. "No." I push open the screen door and step outside as he moves back to allow me room.

"Cady's sleeping on the couch." Feeling the chill in the air, I cross my arms over my chest and try to keep my hands warm.

"Did you tell her about us?"

"I answered any questions she had." He doesn't reply right away so I continue. "Is there an us?"

"I think I want there to be."

"I need you to _know_ before we go any further." My voice is more stern than I intended.

He nods his head. He doesn't seem to be surprised by the tone of my voice.

I walk away from the door over to the porch railing and lean down on it so I'm facing the street. He hovers behind me for a minute before coming over and taking the spot next to me, leaning his back against the railing so he's facing the house.

"Vic, I'm sorry."

My voice softens, "You don't have anything to be sorry for."

"Yes I do, I-" he manages before I cut him off.

"No, you don't. You have every right to deal with all of this however you can. You can't help how you feel."

"I shouldn't have brought all of that up in front of Cady and Henry, it should have been a private conversation."

I nod my head in agreement. "Yeah, that was a little harsh. But I'm a big girl, Walt, I can handle that."

"I shouldn't have been drinking," he sulks, and I can tell he's disappointed in himself.

I think back to the night I let loose at Henry's party. I shrug my shoulders a little and look up at him, "Sometimes it's nice to numb everything for a bit and not think about it all. I'm sure you just weren't expecting me to show up."

Silence.

"You know, I uhh, I didn't mean what I said about stepping in with that guy… I'm glad I took you home that night."

I don't say anything right away, because to be honest I'm not sure where to go from here. When he doesn't continue, I simply nod. "Me too."

We're both struggling to keep the conversation going. It's like we each have so much to say but there's no way to work it all into the same conversation.

"I'm sorry I've been stalling," he offers.

I drop my gaze from his because I'm having trouble keeping my eyes on his. "It's ok. I can't force you to feel the same way I do."

"It's not that."

I keep quiet and wait until he decides to explain, or until he can come up with the words.

"I wasn't ready for you, Vic. I never expected to feel like this again after losing Martha."

Again? My heart flutters a little. He's comparing how he feels about me to how he felt about Martha.

He reaches down and gently touches my face so that I turn towards him. "You forced me to open my eyes when you kissed me that day. Ever since then, it's like I'm walking around in a fog and I don't know how to get out."

"And I've just been pushing you around in the fog."

"I just need to be able to see straight, and then you can go back to pushing me around."

Thankful that he's trying to lighten the mood, I laugh a little.

As we fall silent for a couple of minutes, a breeze comes through and makes me shudder. Almost immediately, Walt opens his arms and looks down at me. "Come here."

I look up at him hesitantly.

"It's ok," he insists.

I'm still reluctant, as I told myself I was going to keep my distance and let him think. But when he doesn't budge, I lean into his outstretched arms to steal some of his body heat. He puts his arms around my back, rubbing it gently as I rest my forehead on his chest.

We stand like that for a few minutes in silence before I break it. "I'm sorry that I've been pushing you."

"I'm sorry that I've been pushing back."

"Two stubborn idiots, what a pair we are." My hands at my side and are getting cold so I pull them up so they're in between our chests.

He continues to rub his hands up and down my back. I would stand here and shiver all night if it meant we could stay in this exact position. My head knows that I need to give him space so he can figure out what he wants. My heart on the other hand, doesn't ever want this embrace to end. I allow myself to cling to him for another minute before I start to pull away. "I should probably get back inside."

He nods, looking down at me with those beautiful, kind eyes. "Ok."

"I'm off tomorrow, remember." He gives a slight nod. "You can call me if you need anything, but I think it'd do you some good not to see me for a day. It might help you think clearer." My eyes trail off of his.

"I expect I'll think about you whether you're around or not," he says matter of fact.

I smile slightly, and nod my head in understanding. "Goodnight, Walt."

"Goodnight, Vic." He holds my gaze until I turn and head inside.

Once I'm inside, I shut the door quietly behind me and turn around to lean my back up against it. I close my eyes and imagine myself back in his arms. It takes everything in me not to open the door and run after him. I remind myself that this is only temporary. I have to believe that our separation only temporary.

I take a few deep breaths and when I open my eyes a minute later I see Cady sitting up on the couch, staring at me expectantly.

"Are you ok?"

I shake my head, "Not yet."


	19. Chapter 19

_**Hey guys! A bit of a "filler" chapter here, not much action but I promise that's in the next chapter, which you will get tomorrow!**_

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><p>I feel so restless on my day off. I have already cleaned the entire house, and it's not even noon yet.<p>

Early this morning I took Cady back to her car at the Red Pony, and came back here and tried to go back to sleep for a little bit. I ended up just tossing and turning, so eventually I got up and decided to clean. This is what I do when I'm stressed. Well, when I'm stressed _and_ have free time.

And so I clean.

I started in the bedroom. I've been a bit of a slob this week, so I had dirty clothes sprawled everywhere. I gathered all of that up first so I could start some laundry. Next, I dusted almost every inch of the house. Then I vacuumed every inch of the house. Are you seeing a pattern?

I even went so far as to take every item out of my fridge so I could wipe everything down inside. All of this has been completed before lunch.

I told myself I wasn't going to leave the house today, but I'm already breaking that pledge. I'm hungry, so I decide to head out to the Red Pony to grab something to eat. I swear though, if for some reason Walt is there, I'm definitely turning around this time. He needs some space from me and I'm going to give it to him this time.

When I get there Henry is up at the bar, playing himself in a game a Solitaire. I'm a little early for the lunch rush so there's absolutely nobody else in here to eat. There is an older man drinking by himself at the very end of the bar, I can't remember his name but I recognize him from sitting in that exact same spot just about every other time I'm in here.

I walk up to the bar and plop down on the chair in front of Henry. He looks up and smiles at me but doesn't say anything at first, he just continues flipping his cards. After a minute, he looks up at me.

"Hello, Vic. How are you?"

I let out a loud, exaggerated sigh. "I'm bored."

He looks over at me curiously, one of his eyebrows raised.

"I have the day off and I don't know what to do with myself. I don't know why I continue to ask for days off, I'm going nuts at home."

"I see. I hope you were not expecting to find entertainment here." He continues to flip through his deck of cards. It doesn't look like he's going to win this game.

"No, I just came for something to eat. Can I have the usual?"

"You may." He nods, continuing his game. Once he gets all the way through his deck, still not coming across a card he can play, he sets the cards down and turns to head to the kitchen. "Once I'm back, we can talk about last night."

"What makes you think I came here to talk about last night?"

He doesn't respond but keeps on walking.

I did not come here to talk about Walt, the food is just the best. Plus, the Busy Bee is closer to the station and there's a greater chance that I'd run into Walt there on his lunch break. In all actuality, I came here to avoid Walt.

He comes back out from the kitchen, and pours me a glass of tea from a pitcher behind the bar. After he sets it down in front of me, he picks up his deck of cards and resumes his game of Solitaire. "So…." He looks up at me in between flips.

"So." I don't offer anything else because I don't want him to think I came here to talk about Walt, because I didn't.

"Did Walt stop by and apologize last night after he left here?"

"He did." I take a drink of my iced tea.

He nods his head in approval, "Good."

"Was that your idea?"

"No, it was not. But I did agree with him when he said he needed to apologize."

"Figures. Your generation is so polite, always worrying about hurting everybody's feelings."

"Did he hurt your feelings?" He looks over at me indifferently.

I consider this for a moment before answering honestly. "A little."

"Well then, he should have apologized."

"I pushed him too fast," I blurt out.

He pauses his game, and looks up at me as his expression softens.

"It's my fault. I pushed him into all of this." I drop my gaze from his.

"Vic," he bends down, trying to catch my eyes and make eye contact again. Once I look up at him, he continues. "Nobody forces Walt to do anything that he does not want to do. He is the most stubborn person I have ever met. If he does something, it is because he decides to, not because somebody forced him."

Realizing that I had been holding my breath, I nod and exhale slowly. I know this, I said the same thing to Cady last night. I guess I just needed to hear it from someone else.

"You know, after you left last night, I practically had to beat it out of him to get him to tell me what happened between you two."

"And what did he tell you?"

"That you kissed him in his office."

"That's it?"

"And that he kissed you back."

"Ahh. That." I nod. That's the part Walt is struggling with.

"You may have pushed him, Vic, just not in the way you think."

I look up from the napkin that I've been tearing at the corners of and stare back at him. "You pushed Walt to deal with the feelings he already had for you. We could all tell that they were there. He needed to be pushed, otherwise he would still be standing still."

I think back to the conversation we had on my porch. "Yeah, but now I pushed him into the fog."

"The fog?" he stares back at me, confused.

I shake my head, "Never mind. Actually, can we change the subject? I really didn't come here to talk about Walt."

I let out a sigh. I'm trying _not_ to think about him, talking about him doesn't make that task any easier.

He nods, "Of course." He comes around the bar and stands next to me. I turn my body slightly and look up at him, I'm sure with a slightly confused look on my face. He opens his arms and pulls me into a big bear hug.

This is the thing I love about Henry, he just seems to know the right thing to say or do. In this case, he doesn't say anything, he simply gives me a hug because he thinks I could use one. I am a little surprised, because I think most people assume I'm not a hugger and don't offer. Those people would be correct, I'm not a hugger.

That's most days; today I welcome Henry's hug with open arms. Once he releases me, he smiles and gives my shoulders a quick squeeze. He turns and heads to the kitchen, coming back a minute later with my food that he places in front of me. Neither of us says another word about Walt.

A few minutes after I start eating, he picks up his deck of cards and grins at me, "Do you play poker?"

I smile back, "Of course."

We play a few hands until customers start to roll in for the lunch rush, making Henry get back to work.

"Thanks, Henry." He knows exactly what I'm thanking him for, though I don't go into detail.

He nods, "Anytime."

I'm grateful for the brief break from my thoughts. Now I'm back to the normal thoughts of how absolutely nothing in my life is normal.

Not yet, I tell myself again. Not yet.


	20. Chapter 20

I get into work early the next morning before everyone else. This wasn't really my intention, but I didn't sleep the best and I was up early so I figured what the hell. It feels like it's been longer than a day since I've been here. Maybe it's just that a day without in it Walt passes by twice as slow as any other day.

Ruby is the next one to get in after me. "Good morning, Vic. You got an early start today!" she says cheerfully.

I lie. "Well I got a good night's sleep last night so I'm all bright eyed and bushy tailed today."

She laughs. I wonder if she has any idea of what's been going on between Walt and me. Things don't usually slip by her; Ruby has known Walt for a long time and can read him like a book. If she has noticed that something is different with us she hasn't indicated it at all, and I definitely am not going to mention it.

"Do you know what time Ferg is supposed to be in today?"

"Oh, Ferg's off until tomorrow. It's just you and Walt holding down the fort today."

I try not to act surprised, or react at all for that matter. "Oh, okay."

I spend the first part of the morning looking through the reports on my desk from yesterday when I realize that it's almost 9 o'clock and Walt still isn't at the office. I open my mouth to ask Ruby if she knows when he's supposed to be in when the door opens and he walks in urgently.

He looks right at me. "Vic, I need you."

My heart falls to my stomach, and all I can respond with is, "What?"

"I ran into a problem on my way in this morning. We need to head out to the Hopper house. They're having another fight."

Right. He needs me for backup. I quickly switch gears and grab my jacket. "Let's go."

I ask him on the drive there what happened. Apparently he was almost to the station when someone at a stoplight motioned for him to roll down his window, and it turned out to be a neighbor of Marcy and John Hopper. He told Walt that he had just left his own house and could hear them having a heated argument as he drove off.

"This outta be interesting."

When we pull up to the house, it's a very different story from last time. We can still hear them arguing, mostly Marcy, but no objects are being thrown this time. It's actually fairly quiet, I'm not sure Walt needed backup on this one.

I dismiss that thought when we get closer to the house and can see Marcy through the living room window. She is holding a gun and is facing it at the other side of the room, presumably at John. As soon as we see that she's armed, Walt and I reach for our own weapons at the same time.

Walt picks up his pace and reaches the front door first. "Marcy. It's the sheriff. Is everything okay in there?"

"IS EVERYTHING OKAY?! Are you out of your damn mind?! Everything is not okay!"

"Marcy, I'm coming in. Do not shoot."

He glances back at me quick to make sure that I'm covering him. He nods quickly and then holsters his gun, but leaves his hand hovering near his belt. He pushes the door open, and Marcy looks over at us, but keeps the gun pointed at John.

"Sheriff, you have to do something. She's gonna kill me!" John cries from the corner of the room, hiding behind the same recliner as last time.

Walt slowly raises his hands in the air to show that he hasn't drawn his weapon, and I keep my weapon pointed at Marcy. I'm really not in the mood to shoot someone today.

He positions himself in between Marcy and John, and tries to get Marcy to pay attention to him instead of John. "Marcy, what happened? When I checked back on you last week everything had been sorted out."

"What happened is that I decided to give this piece of shit another chance." She waves the gun in John's direction. "He wouldn't move out so I was going to, and he begged me to stay and work things out. So instead of throwing 22 years of marriage out the window, I decided to stay and try to forgive him."

"And what changed?"

"Nothing changed! He's still screwing that damn stripper! Why ask me to stay if you're going to keep your girlfriend on the side?!" She's sobbing now.

"Baby, I'm sorry. I'm trying!" He doesn't sound like he's trying. He sounds whiney.

"Marcy. I want you to put the gun down."

She shakes her head, but doesn't say anything.

"Marcy, I'm not going to let you hurt John. If you aim your gun, my partner over here is going to shoot you before you can pull the trigger." He says as he points in my direction. "I don't want you to get hurt either, Marcy."

"I want him to hurt, he doesn't care at all!"

Walt nods his head in understanding, "I know. But if you put the gun down, I promise I will make sure John moves out for good and leaves you alone."

She considers this. "How can you do that?"

"I will tell the judge that I'm concerned for the safety of both of you if you continue to live in the same house. I can put you in touch with a good divorce lawyer and you can have a clean separation." He takes a small step towards her. "Nobody needs to get injured today, Marcy."

Marcy is silent for a minute as she considers Walt's offer. She eventually nods her head and lowers the gun. I see Walt breathe a sigh of relief as he steps forward and takes it from her.

I'm thinking that this is the shortest negotiation that I have ever witnessed when Walt interrupts my thoughts. He does something that I've never before seen an officer do to a suspect. He gives her a hug. As soon as he hugs her, she sobs even louder and clings to him. I stand there frozen and watch him in awe for a minute, before I snap myself out of it.

I sneak around to the corner and head to where John is crouching and have him follow me outside. We make arrangements for John to stay at a motel for a few days until we can find him a new place to live. Walt promises Marcy he will make an appointment with a lawyer as soon as he gets back to the office. We allow John to go inside and get some of his things before we drop him off at the motel.

Once it's just Walt and me in the Bronco, I look over at him and sigh loudly. "Poor Marcy. I hope she never has to see John again."

Walt doesn't respond, but after I minute I notice that we're not heading back to the station.

"Where are we going?"

Silence.

"Walt?"

"I need to do something at my cabin before we head back to the station."

"Ohhkaaaay." This is both a statement and a slight question.

We pull up at his cabin a couple minutes later and I stay put, but he comes around to my side and opens the door.

"What?"

"I need you to come inside." He grabs my hand as I struggle to get my seatbelt off before he pulls me out of the car. He continues to pull me all the way inside, like he thinks I'm going to make a run for it if he lets me go.

"Walt, what's going on?"

Once we're inside he shuts the door, lets go of me and starts pacing the room. I'm wondering what the hell is going on, but he hasn't answered any of my questions yet so I stay silent and let him continue to do whatever it is that he's doing.

Without warning, he closes the distance between us, and grabs both sides of my face before covering his mouth with mine. It takes me a few seconds to respond because I'm a little overwhelmed at the turn of events. But the shock wears off quickly and I find myself grabbing at his waist and kissing him back. His kisses are urgent, much different than before in his office. He's still clutching my face like I'm going to disappear if he lets me go.

We're both breathing heavy, and I try to break away for air but he crushes his lips to mine again.

"Wal-," I manage to get out before he silences me again.

I reach my hands up and grab his face, slowly pulling it off of mine.

"As much as I would love for this to continue, I need you to use your words. What's happening?"

"I realized I was John." He says simply.

I don't follow. "Are you sleeping with a stripper?"

He makes a face at me. I don't mean to mock him, I'm just not sure where he's going with this.

"I asked you to stay. And then I screwed everything up." He brings a hand up and strokes my hair on the left side of my face.

I cock my head sideways at him. "You didn't ask me to stay. You told me you wanted me to stay and I stayed because _I_ wanted to."

"Yeah, just like Marcy. I asked you to stay but gave you nothing in return after you decided to stay."

I let that sink in for a minute before I speak. "Don't you get it? The fact that you wanted me to stay was the exact thing that made staying here actually worth something."

He shakes his head and looks down like he's ashamed of himself. "I don't want to end up like Marcy and John."

"We're nothing like them, I promise. I'm not going anywhere._ I_ chose to stay and _I_ chose to wait."

He looks up at me, and strokes my bottom lip with his thumb. "I don't want to make you wait anymore."

I feel my eyes widen a little at his revelation. Does this mean what I think it means? I stare back at him waiting for him to continue, and when he doesn't my lips curl up in a smile. As if he was waiting for permission, as soon as I smile he reaches down and places his lips on mine again. This kiss is gentle, and much slower. He brings his hands down around my waist and pushes me back against the door. I have one hand on his chest and the other cradling his face.

In the middle of the most satisfying moment in the past six months, my cell phone rings. With his lips still caressing mine, I let out a moan, part pleasure and part anger. Of course my phone would ring now.

"Let it ring," I say breathlessly.

He kisses me once more, and moves his hand down to grab my phone out of my back pocket. "It could be important."

Always the responsible one. It must be a number he recognizes because he brings it up to his ear. "Longmire."

He smiles; it must be Ruby.

"Yeah… okay. We're on our way, Ruby. We'll be back soon."

He hangs up the phone and reaches down to place it back in my pocket. He sighs and rests his forehead on mine.

I know he told Ruby we'd be back soon, but I never want to leave from here.

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><p><strong><em>Sooooooo what are your thoughts?! I hope it didn't disappoint, I know it took awhile for Walt to come around but that's typical Walt for ya! There will still be a few chapters after this one so don't fret :) but let me know what you all think!<em>**


	21. Chapter 21

_**I JUST READ ON TWITTER THAT LONGMIRE WAS PICKED UP BY NETFLIX FOR A FOURTH SEASON! LET'S CELEBRATE WITH SOME WALT AND VIC ACTION, purely from my imagination of course! ;) ENJOY! #longlivelongmire**_

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><p>"Are you sure we have to go? Can't we both be sick for the rest of the day?" I whine as I stroke my hands up and down his denim shirt.<p>

He smirks. "We can't. We have to get everything situated with the the Hopper's."

I put a hand up to the side of his face. "Right, the Hopper's… who we are _nothing_ alike." I stare up at him, forcing him to understand me.

He simply nods. "We should get going." He starts to pull away from me and reaches for the door.

"Wait… One more." I pull him into a slow kiss, savoring each second; this has to get me through the rest of the day at the office. I pull back and look up at him with a joyous smile on my face. I give him one last peck on the lips, "Okay, now we can go."

Once we're in the Bronco and driving back to the station, he reaches over and grabs my hand, barely taking his eyes off the road. I smile and look over at him. "And you're holding my hand, too?!"

He glares over at me.

"Who are you and what have you done with Walt?!" I'm not complaining, but I can't help but tease him. It's so different to see Walt take charge in a relationship.

Is that what this is now? A relationship?

"Don't mock me. It makes me nervous."

I muffle a laugh, and squeeze his hand gently, not saying another word until we reach the station. Before climbing out of the car, I lean over to his side and give him another quick kiss.

Once inside, we both retreat to our respective offices. The rest of the day is rather uneventful, mostly spent making arrangements for the Hopper's. It looks like Walt will be able to keep his word to Marcy and get them a clean divorce.

I get out of the office for awhile later in the afternoon for a couple of minor calls, and when I get back Walt is gone. Before I can ask Ruby where he is, I notice a yellow post-it note sticking out from under my pile of papers. On the post-it, scribbled in Walt's handwriting is 'Dinner 7:00 at the cabin.'

I smile, and crumple up the note and throw it in the trash. I sit down at my desk and file the reports on the calls I responded to this afternoon. I finally finish around 6:30, with just enough time to go home and change before heading over to Walt's.

When I get up to his porch, I'm not sure if I should knock or not. The door is open, and I peek in through the screen door to see if I can see Walt. I don't see him, but I can hear him rummaging through the cupboards.

I tap lightly on the door, "Walt?"

"Come on in!" he yells from the kitchen.

When I step inside, my senses go into overdrive as I take everything in. The entire cabin smells of delicious barbecue, and I see a number of candles lit around the room.

Candles. Never before have I pictured Walt to be a candle kind of guy.

I walk into the kitchen and find Walt standing over the stove. He's not wearing the same clothes he wore to work. He's wearing what looks to be a brand new outfit, a nice pair of jeans and a green button up.

"Hey."

He whips around to look at me, and smiles when he sees me. "Hey, you made it."

"Yeah, except I think I need to go home and change into something a bit nicer." I look down at the jeans and t-shirt that I'm wearing.

"What? Why?"

"Well, look at you. You're all dressed up."

He looks down at his clothes, and then looks back up sheepishly. I notice for the first time how uncomfortable he looks.

"Are we going anywhere?"

He looks around the kitchen at the food he has cooking. "No, I thought we'd just eat here."

"Then go change," I say as I nod my head towards the bedroom.

He looks back at me a little uncertain, like this is a trap.

"Walt, you look nice, but you look uncomfortable." I walk over and stop in front of him, putting my arms around his waist. "You don't have to dress up for me, I don't care what you wear."

"Are you sure?"

I nod my head yes. "We've known each other for a few years already, you don't have to try to impress me. Just relax." I reach up and kiss him on the tip of his nose.

He nods, and I step away from him to head to the stove.

"Go and change if you want to, I'll watch the food." He nods, and turns to head to the bedroom as I bend down to peek into the oven.

It's barbecue chicken, and it smells amazing. I take the lid off of the pot on the stove to find asparagus steaming. I'm impressed, I figured Walt ate at the Red Pony every night for dinner.

…

After dinner, we settle together on the couch with the candles flickering around us. Walt sits down first, so I laid down next to him and put my head in his lap. He had the remote and was flipping through the channels, until finally settling on an old John Wayne movie. Once he sets down the remote, his hands hover for a moment because he's not sure where to rest them since my head is in his lap.

Nervous Walt really is quite adorable. Instead of making fun of him for being so anxious, which I really want to do, I reach up and grab the one of his hands and intertwine my fingers with his. I pull our hands down a little and rest them on my chest.

Just a few seconds later, Walt clears his throat and shifts his body. I crane my neck to look up at him and he looks even more nervous now. I feel him shift his fingers a little in the hand that I'm holding, causing me to look down, and I realize he must be uncomfortable because his hand is on my boob.

I can't help but chuckle. I know I probably should be nervous like he is, but I'm not. Now that I know Walt feels the same way that I do, all the nerves are gone. I'm the most comfortable that I've ever been.

"What's going on in that head of yours?"

He sighs. "Everything. I don't know what I'm doing."

I sit up and flip around so I'm next to him, and put my legs in his lap. "There's no right or wrong way to do this, Walt. We can approach _us_ however you want."

He pauses for a few moments. "What do you want to do?"

I stretch out my arm at the back of the couch, letting my hand fall at the back of his neck. I gaze over at him and reply honestly, "I don't think you're ready for what I want."

His expression doesn't change, and he continues to stare at me while I play with the hair at back of his head. "Don't worry about what I'm ready for."

Is he giving me permission to make the first move? I mean, you know, the first _big_ move? I eye him carefully.

"I need help shutting my brain off," he admits, his expression still unchanging.

I can probably help with that. Without wasting another moment, I lean forward to swing my left leg to the other side so I'm straddling him. I bring my hands up and run them through his hair before leaning forward to place a kiss at his jaw line. I continue all the way around to the other side, my hands still grazing through his hair.

Next, I bring my hands down to his chest so I can undo the top few buttons. As I bend down to place a few kisses in the middle of his chest, I can feel his heart beat quicken. I continue small kisses all the way up to his neck and end at his chin. Moving my hands up to cradle his face, he tilts his head back a little bit so he can look at me better. Lowering my head to his, I gently pull on his bottom lip with my teeth before taking his mouth in mine. He parts his lips almost immediately, inviting me in. Every kiss with Walt is better than the last, and yet the satisfaction is so great each time that it feels like the first.

I pull away from him briefly, staring back into his kind eyes as I reach down and pull my shirt over my head. His eyes are locked on mine, he doesn't look down at my newly exposed skin, which makes me pause. "Do you want me to stop?"

He looks back at me for a few moments before he responds. He shakes his head and bring his hands to my waist, caressing my stomach with his thumbs.

I reach down and unbutton his shirt the rest of the way, and slide it off of his shoulders, as he reaches down and unbuttons my jeans. His lips lock on mine as I undo the button on his jeans. His nerves seem to have almost gone away and he's taking charge a little more now. His mouth hungry for mine as his hands roam my body more freely. He slides his lips down to my neck, as he wraps his arms around me to spin us on the couch and place me on my back.

We both manage to slide out of our jeans, and Walt grabs the blanket hanging on the back of the couch and pulls it over top of us before gently settling down on top of me. We both just lay here for a few minutes staring at one another. Eventually our lips find one another again and we fall into a rhythm, getting lost within one another.

Our kisses are deep and slow, with neither of us rushing. I could do this forever. Completely lost in the moment, I can't tell you how long we spend making love to one another, but I can tell you that I never want it to end. I want this to be my new normal.


	22. Chapter 22

_**Okay, guys... only 3 chapters left! Enjoy!**_

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><p>I open my eyes when light is just starting to fill the cabin. Walt and I are still on the couch, my head resting on his chest. I lay there and listen to him breathe as I replay last night's events in my head.<p>

Could it have been any more perfect?

I gently run my hand over his chest, tracing circles with my fingers. After a few minutes, he shifts beneath me and I crane my neck to look back at him. He opens his eyes but doesn't say anything right away. He stares back at me, and eventually he smiles. "Hey," he says with a scratchy voice.

I can't help but smile back. "Hey yourself."

He clears his throat. "How did you sleep?"

"Alright, though I don't think we got much sleep." I smirk at him.

He lets out a low laugh as he reaches up and brushes a piece of hair off of my face and tucks it behind my ear. "I guess we didn't, did we?"

"I'm not complaining." I shift my body so that I can reach his face to give him a kiss.

I settle back into his chest and in a couple minutes I fall back asleep. When I wake up again, it's because Walt has shifted me to the side so he can get up. I hear him put on a pot of coffee, but I must doze back to sleep because at some point I'm startled awake at the sound of the phone ringing. It must have been only a few minutes later because I can still hear the coffee maker going. He scrambles to his phone across the room.

"Hello?… Hey, Punk." He turns slightly so his back is to me.

"What's up?"

I turn my body on the couch so that I'm facing Walt, propping myself up with my elbow.

"Oh, nothing. I just put a pot of coffee on."

He turns and glances back at me on the couch, I assume to see if I'm awake.

"Oh, uhh… well actually I'm heading into work soon. How about you come over for dinner tonight? I'll make your favorite."

This makes me smile. I wish I had that kind of relationship with my dad.

"Okay, great. I'll see you tonight."

I see him nod, "Okay, I will. Bye."

He hangs up the phone and walks towards this kitchen, avoiding looking in my direction. He pours himself a cup of coffee, and takes a sip before setting the mug down. Taking a deep breath, he leans forward and rests his hands on the countertop and stares down at the floor. He stands like that, unmoving, for a couple of minutes as I watch him from the couch.

I sit up and slip on Walt's shirt that's lying on the floor. I glance back to the kitchen to see that he hasn't moved, even though I'm sure he can hear me stirring over here. I get up and walk to where he is crouched and lift myself up to sit on the counter next to him.

"What's wrong?"

He takes a deep breath, but doesn't say anything.

"Come here."

He takes another breath before turning his head sideways to look at me. I gesture for him to move closer and he obliges. He stands in front of me, looking down at his hands resting on my thighs.

"We're in this together now, Walt. Whatever it is you're thinking, you can tell me."

"I don't know how to act now."

"You mean the morning after we just had sex?"

He lifts his head up and bows forward to place a kiss on my chest before resting his forehead there. "That's not what I mean. All of those nerves are gone after last night."

"Good." I rest my hands on his shoulders, rubbing them gently. "Cady wanted to come over here this morning, didn't she?"

I feel his warm breath on my chest. "Yeah."

"And you're not ready to tell her yet."

My statement doesn't need a reply, as I already know the answer. I bring my hands up to run them through his hair.

"We can act normal at work, Walt, and in public. We don't have to tell anyone."

He lifts his head up to look at me, a slight look of shock on his face. "Really?"

"Of course. I didn't figure you completely changed your mind on what bothered you about us in the first place. I'm still the same age, and you're still my boss."

He nods solemnly.

"It's okay. Nobody has to know."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, it's fine." I give him a reassuring smile to let him know I'm not upset. "I'm hoping we can eventually tell people, but when you're ready."

"Okay."

"Now quit sulking, you're putting a damper on my morning after." I poke him in the chest.

I finally get a smile out of him. "Yes ma'am," he mutters as he reaches his hands under my shirt and clasps his lips to mine.

He's been holding out on me; confident Walt is very different than normal Walt. A small moan escapes from my mouth as he grabs at my chest from under my shirt. I manage an, "Mmm," in between breaths. "This… is a," breath, "much better," breath, "good morning."

He lifts me off the counter and carries me to the bedroom. I'm never going to get used to this.

We finally make it into the office a couple hours later. Walt went in first, and I went home to shower quick before heading in. I could tell he was concerned about us both coming in late together so I insisted that he head in first.

Work is actually busy, with nobody in the office at the same time, so Walt didn't have time to even be weird about anything. I went out on a couple of calls with Ferg and a couple with Walt in the afternoon.

One our last call of the day, he turns to me in the truck and asks what I have planned for the night.

"Absolutely nothing, and I plan to enjoy it." I feign a yawn. "I'm a little tired, someone kept me up late last night," I grin over at him.

This makes him chuckle. "I don't know who would do such a thing."

"You're having Cady over for dinner, right?"

"Yep."

"That'll be fun."

He nods, "Yep."

He looks like there's more that he wants to say, but when he doesn't offer anything, I continue. "You know, I don't think you have to be worried about Cady. I don't think she has a problem with us."

He shoots me a panicking look, "Did she say that?"

"Well not in those exact words, but when she was at my house the other night, she was the one asking questions about us and none of it seemed to bother her."

"Oh."

"Apparently, she thought that there was already something going on between us but you just weren't ready to tell her yet. Imagine that."

He looks over at me with a sad look.

I reach over and grab his hand, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. You're not ready to tell her, and she obviously understands that. Otherwise, she would have asked you about me a long time ago."

He nods, "I know. I want to tell her." He pauses just briefly, "But I also want to keep you to myself for a bit."

I look over at him to see him smiling at me. God, I'm starting to love this man.

"Even after people find out about us, I'm still all yours, you know."

He nods and turns his attention back to the road. "I know."

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><p><em><strong>:) 2 more left! you'll get the next one sometime on Wednesday, and the last one on Thursday for a Thanksgiving treat!<strong>_


	23. Chapter 23

It's been a little over a week since Walt and I first slept together.

Who am I kidding? It's been 9 days, that's how long it's been. I know that probably makes me look like a crazy person, but I can't help but remember the exact day. I also remember every other day since then that we've been intimate. Each time will be ingrained in my memory for a very, very long time.

When I get into the office in the morning, Ferg is at his desk on the phone and I see Ruby sitting with Walt in his office going over his notes for the day. She comes out a few minutes later and Walt yells my name.

"Can you come in here?"

I walk down the hallway to his office and stop in the doorway, leaning on the frame. "What's up?"

He eyes me from behind his desk. "Come in and shut the door."

Ever since we got together last week, all of our conversations at the station have been work related and I haven't been in his office with the door shut.

I shut the door and take a step forward before he cuts me off. "Lock it."

I smirk back at him as I take a step back to flip the lock. I walk around to him and sit on edge of his desk. He doesn't say anything but leans back in his chair and eyes me with a slight smile on his face.

"Yes?" I'm wondering why he made me lock the door if he was just going to sit here and stare at me.

"How are you?"

"Fine, how are you?"

He nods his head, "Good."

Silence.

"Okay, I'm glad we got that out of the way." I laugh nervously. "Is there anything else?"

"Yeah, uhh, kinda."

I don't say anything but stare back at him expectantly, prodding him to continue.

"Are you going to out to the Red Pony tonight? For Henry's thing?"

Right, Henry's monthly get-together is tonight, I had forgotten about it until now. "I didn't remember that was tonight, but yes, I should probably make an appearance."

He nods.

It takes a moment for me to get it. This is the first time since we got together that we'd be in public for something non-work related.

"Do you not want me to go?"

"No, it's not that, of course you can go." He pauses, "I just don't think I'm ready for us to go together." He looks up at me, apprehensive, waiting for my reaction.

I love that he's always so worried about my feelings. Sean never did that shit.

"It's ok, we don't have to go together."

"I'm trying, I just…" he trails off and looks at his hands.

"Babe, I said it's ok." I scoot over on the desk so I'm sitting in front of him, and he looks up at me. "I know you're not ready for everyone to know, that's ok. We can both still be in the same place without it being weird, can't we? Just treat me like your friend… or deputy, whichever you're more comfortable with. As long as you don't completely ignore me it's fine."

He lets out a sigh of relief and brings his hands up and rests them on my thighs.

"You know, I should be a little offended." He cocks his head to the side. "Am I that big of a bitch normally that you'd think I'd be mad about you not being ready?"

"No, not at all."

I chuckle. "Good answer."

I slide down off of his desk and lower myself sideways onto his lap.

"I might have to hold out on the alcohol tonight, I don't know if I'll be able to keep my hands off of you while under the influence." I begin to run my fingers over the chest hair peeking out of his denim shirt.

He clears his throat. "Huh. Yeah we don't want that."

I lean closer him and hover my mouth over his, but I don't touch his lips. "I don't know how I'm going to do it. I'm not sure I'll be able to resist the urge."

"Mmmm, it is a rather strong urge isn't it?" He says as he moves his hands up to my waist.

"The strongest," I whisper.

He gives in and presses his lips to mine. It's just a single kiss but it's a long one. When he finally pulls away, he sighs. "This might be harder than I thought."

I laugh. "Buck up, cowboy." I place another kiss on the tip of his nose before lifting myself off of his lap. "I'll be at my desk if you need me," I call over my shoulder as I head back down the hallway.

I walk back to his office around lunch time to see if he wants anything to eat; I figured I'd head out to the Red Pony and pick something up. Walt said he'd have the usual, and the same thing for Ruby and Ferg.

I get to the bar and panic slightly when I see Cady sitting up at the bar eating. I'm not sure if Cady knows about Walt and me yet or not. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if Henry knows yet either. I didn't even think to ask Walt if we were keeping it from them for now, too.

"Hey, you." I walk up and take a seat next to her.

She jumps at the sound of my voice. "Vic! You scared me…" She trails off as she looks around, like she's expecting somebody behind me.

I eye her carefully, "Sorry… is everything ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

She doesn't seem fine.

"What's going on here?" I gesture down to the mound of papers in front of her.

"Nothing, just work. I uhh, I have a big case right now." I don't know Cady that well but I can tell that something is definitely bothering her.

Henry comes over and takes my order for everyone at the office. He eyes Cady carefully as he turns to head to the kitchen, and I can tell that he also senses something is off.

I'm about to ask Cady another question when the swinging doors at the front of the bar burst open making a loud clank, causing us to to snap our heads in that direction.

I can't explain it, but I immediately know that something is about to happen. The man in the door way is dirty, wearing mostly black clothing and a bandana on his head. He's scanning the room like he's looking for somebody. I think I see a gun peeking out of his waistband from underneath his jacket.

I swing my chair towards Cady and whisper, "Stay behind me," before standing up from my seat.

I turn and face the door before I address him. "Excuse me, can I help you?"

He jolts his head towards me and looks me up and down. "No sweetheart, sit your fine ass back down."

I don't know who this asshole is but I have a feeling he's looking for Cady, it would definitely explain her demeanor just before. He takes a couple steps forward and I put my hands on my hips so my hand is near my gun that's holstered in my duty belt. He takes his eyes off of me to look around the room while he takes a few more steps. I take advantage and shift slightly to keep my body between him and Cady.

"Vic," she whispers from behind me, her voice shaking.

"Shh." I leave one hand on my side where my gun is, but put the other behind me and open it towards Cady, wiggling my fingers a little. She grabs my hand and I give it a little squeeze before whispering back, "It's ok."

The man continues to make his way around the room, looking at the people sitting down. "I'm looking for Cady Longmire. I was told I could find her here."

Cady lets out a small gasp from behind me, but I don't think he hears her. I know I can't realistically hide her behind me, he's going to make his way over here eventually and will notice her. It's all the I can do to protect her at the moment.

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><p><em><strong>Dun dun dunnnn. Haha. Only one chapter left! What do you guys think so far? You'll get the ending tomorrow!<strong>_


	24. Chapter 24

"Cady Longmire," he tries again.

I decide to get his attention again. "What do you want with Cady?"

He snaps his head in my direction and takes a few steps towards me. "That's none of your business."

"She's actually a very good friend of mine, so yeah, it is my business."

I have his full attention. He walks over towards me, and when he gets within about ten feet of me, he spots someone behind me. He moves to the side a little trying to look behind me. He's laughing now.

This guy isn't much taller than I am and he's pretty scrawny, so I'm sure I can take him… but where the hell is Henry at?

"Cady Longmire."

The dirtball takes a few more steps towards me and I let go of Cady's hand behind my back and hold it up in front of me. "You can stop right there."

Without warning he closes the distance between us and grabs the wrist of the hand I'm holding up. He pulls me forward, but as I lunge forward I bring my knee up and jam it in his groin.

I can feel Cady jump behind me. He doubles over in pain for a few seconds, before jumping back up and grabbing me. He gets ahold of both of my wrists this time, but I have them in front of me so that when he grabs my wrists, I'm able to jam my elbow up and catch him right in the nose.

He staggers back this time, and stumbles into a table behind him causing him to lose his balance and tumble to the ground. I leap forward and grab the gun from his waist band. "I don't know who you are, or what you want with Cady, but you need to leave. Now."

I grab his arm and pull him to his feet, as he moans and covers his nose with his other hand. He has blood running down his face. I drag him out of the bar while he's still weak and preoccupied.

"You bitch, I think you broke my nose."

"Self defense, you came at me first. Get out of here, and stay away from Cady."

"Give me back my gun."

"Is it registered?"

He just stares back at me.

"That's what I thought. Get out of here now and I won't charge you with possession of an unlicensed weapon."

He looks pissed that I broke his nose, and he stands there bleeding for another minute before he finally walks away. I wait for him to get in his truck and leave. He flips me off as he drives by.

I go back inside and Cady is sitting in the same spot, with her head in her hands. When I get close to her I can hear her sobbing.

"Cady, what's going on?"

At the sound of my voice she leaps up and throws her arms around me, sniffling into my hair. "Thank you."

"It's ok. Everything's fine now." I rub her back gently. After a few moments, I pull her back. "You wanna tell me what that was all about?"

She nods slowly, and sits back down. "He's involved with the case I'm working on. His name is Mickey Watson. His brother was charged with vehicular manslaughter and my firm is working with the prosecution. He's been angry after the hearings lately and has tried to follow me a few times, asking me all sorts of questions."

"Has he threatened you?"

She shakes her head. "No, he always said he just wanted to talk but he has a bit of a temper, as you saw. I was always scared to be alone with him. He followed me out of the courtroom today asking me to talk."

"Does Walt know about this?"

"No! Vic, and you can't tell him!"

I immediately become nervous. "Cady…"

"He worries too much, and he has enough on his plate without me adding more to it. Please don't tell him about today, I don't think he'll come after me again."

"I don't like lying to Walt."

"I know, but you have to." Her eyes are pleading with me.

I look back at her and see Walt; they have the same eyes. I feel like it's him standing here asking me for a favor, and I cave.

"Okay okay, I won't say anything this time. But you have to promise me that if he ever tries to talk to you again, you will let me know. If this turns into a bigger issue, Walt needs to know."

"Okay, I can do that. I promise." She leans forward and pulls me into another hug. "Thanks, Vic."

"Anytime." I'm glad everything worked out okay, but I'm really nervous about having to lie to Walt.

Henry comes out from the kitchen carrying a couple to-go bags and sees Cady and I hugging. He shoots me a look. "Is everything okay?"

Cady pulls away and wipes her eyes for any remaining tears. "Yeah, Henry. Everything's fine."

"I do not believe you." He turns his gaze to me. "What did I miss?"

Cady's eyes plead with me, and I keep my promise.

"Nothing. Just girl stuff." I'm not sure Henry believes me, but he doesn't press the issue.

"I see. Here is your food; tell Walt I say hello."

"I will. Thanks, Henry."

"Will I see you back here tonight?"

"Of course."

He smiles and nods, before narrowing his eyes at Cady.

"I better head back. See you later, Cady?"

She nods her head, "Yeah…thanks again, Vic."

I give her a slight smile, "Of course."

I head back to the station with everyone's food, and try to concentrate on my work for the rest of the day. The remainder of my shift goes surprisingly fast, and before I know it, I'm heading home to change before Henry's party.

When I arrive at the Red Pony, I scan the crowd to see if I can spot Walt. I find him sitting at a table with Cady in the middle of the room. I decide to walk over and say hi before going up to the bar for a beer. When I get close to them, they both see me and stop talking. Walt is smiling.

"Hey you." He stands up and pulls me into a big hug. "I'm glad you're here."

I panic. What is he doing?

"Walt, people can see us." I whisper in his ear.

"I know," he says as he pulls back. "Here, sit down." He pulls a chair out from the table and gestures for me to sit. He sits down right after I do, but a second later he realizes I don't have a drink.

"Do you want a beer?"

"Uhh, sure."

"Okay, I'll be right back." He stands up and gives me a kiss right smack dab on the lips before turning to head to the bar.

I freeze in confusion. I hear a small gasp to my left. I forgot that Cady was sitting at the table, and I look over to see her staring at me with her mouth wide open.

"What the hell was that?!"

"I'm not quite sure," I answer honestly.

"Are you guys _together_ now?"

"Umm, I'm not sure about that either." I look over at her to see that she's slightly more confused than I am. "Kind of. He wasn't ready to be _together_ in public yet. At least, that's what I thought."

Walt comes back to the table and sets a beer down in front of me.

"Here you go." He turns to Cady, "Hey Punk, could you give me and Vic a minute?"

Cady glances briefly at me, and then smiles. "Sure. I'll be at the bar."

Once she's gone from the table, I turn to him. "What has gotten into you? I thought you weren't ready for this yet?"

"I wasn't."

A man of many words.

"Okayyyy… so what changed your mind?"

His beautiful blue eyes stare back at me for a few seconds. "You did."

"I changed your mind today? 10 hours ago you said you weren't ready to be seen together in public, and so far tonight you've already hugged and kissed me in front of half the town."

"I ran into Dorothy Hudson this afternoon at the bank. She was here at the Red Pony during lunchtime, when you came to pick up food."

Oh shit.

"She told me there was a bit of an altercation."

SHIT.

"It was nothing, I swear. I-"

He holds up a hand to stop me. "Hold on, just let me finish." He pauses briefly, and scoots his chair closer to mine. "She told me that some dirt bag came looking for Cady, and that you protected her."

"Well, I just-" I stop because he shoots me a look, annoyed that I keep interrupting him. "Sorry. Go ahead."

"She said you put yourself in front of Cady and wouldn't let him at her. And when he tried to attack you, you broke his nose."

I don't say anything, I'm still waiting for him to get mad at me for not telling him.

"You can speak now… Is that true, did you break that guy's nose?"

I nod. "Yes."

"You protected her."

"Yeah, but it was nothing. That guy was scrawny."

"But you protected her. Thank you."

"Of course. I didn't even think twice about it."

"I know you didn't. That's the point."

I'm not following, and he must see the confusion on my face. He leans forward and takes both of my hands that are resting on top of the table.

"Vic, you and I are so alike when it comes to police work. We assess the situation, and act quickly. But you, you're like that with everything; you don't over-think things like I do."

"I'm not sure that's a good thing. I tend to act before I think a lot of the time, it usually gets me into trouble." I frown.

"I've been so worried about what people will say when they find out about us… I realized I wasn't seeing what was right in front of me."

What exactly is he saying?

"If people watch you, they'll see that you don't take any crap and you stick up for other people, and for what you believe in. That's all I can really hope for in a partner."

The confusion on my face is slowly turning into a smile.

"Come here." He grabs my wrist and pulls me towards him off of my chair and onto his lap.

We stare into each others eyes for a minute before I decide to speak. "You're in such a good mood, but I have to ask. How on Earth are you not mad at me about this whole thing? You're not pissed that I didn't tell you about it?"

He laughs briefly. "Well, I was at first. Then I figured Cady probably begged you not to tell me, and I know how hard she is to say no to."

I nod. "I didn't like agreeing to it."

"I also knew that if it was actually something serious, you would have told me, even if you had promised her you wouldn't."

I grin down at him. "You know me well." I lean into him and kiss him lightly.

I hear someone clear their throat loudly behind me. I turn my head to see Cady standing there smiling at us. "I want you two to know that I'm totally okay with this," she says as she waves her pointed finger back and forth from me to Walt. "_But_, can you not make-out in public please?" She gives us a little wink.

I laugh at her, and look back at Walt to find him blushing. "Sorry, I got caught up in the moment." I slide myself off of his lap and return to my own chair.

"I'll leave you two lovebirds alone, I hear the karaoke machine calling my name." She makes her way past us and heads up to the stage.

"So, we could have came together tonight after all."

He smiles. "Yeah, but we can leave together if we want."

I take a sip of my beer as I stretch my legs out onto his lap. "Can we leave now?" I suggest with a smirk.

He chuckles and rests his hands on my legs, rubbing them gently. "We could, but there's no need. We have all the time in the world."

"I like the sound of that." We sit there staring at each other as we drink our beers in silence. Once again, I get lost in his eyes. If I couldn't hear Cady belting out a terrible rendition of "Wind Beneath My Wings" behind us, I'd swear we were the only people in the room.

I've been waiting so long for things to get back to normal, but tonight I realized that normal is overrated. I got married years ago because I wanted to live a normal life, but normal doesn't work for me anymore. I want every day that I spend with Walt to be filled with so much love, that I have to convince myself that this is my real life.

Fuck normal.

* * *

><p><em><strong>THE END. Ahhhh finally! What did you guys think? I hope it was realistic, at least for the most part. I know that if someone were to attempt to attack an officer he'd probably be arrested, but that didn't fit with my story so I bent that little rule, haha. I hope you guys enjoyed it!<strong>_

_**Also, coming soon… I'm going to do the SAME STORY but from Walt's perspective. That was never the plan but there were a couple of times in this story where I wanted to do a conversation between Walt & Henry or Walt & Cady but I couldn't because of Vic's perspective. So stay tuned! :D And thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment!**_

_**HAPPY THANKSGIVING!**_


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